The Coalition Liberals selected Sir Malcolm Smith, an ex-chief magistrate of Leith and a native of Shetland with large commercial interests in the islands.[2] The Unionists did not seek to oppose their Coalition allies, although there was a strong expectation that the Independent Liberals would put up a candidate.[2] There was no Labour Party tradition in the seat at that time. The Asquithian Liberals selected Sir Robert Hamilton, a judge in the East Africa Protectorate, as their candidate but he withdrew his candidature.[3]
Result
The field having been left free for Smith by the other parties, he was returned unopposed. However, Smith held the seat only until the 1922 general election when he did face a challenge from Hamilton who emerged the winner by a majority of 625 votes.[4]