The Scottish Party initially acted more as a think-tank than an active political party, but received overtures from the founder of the NPS, John MacCormick to merge with the NPS to unify the elements of the Scottish Nationalist movement. The party's candidate for the November 1933 by-election in Kilmarnock received NPS backing, and this co-operation was firmed up by the merger of the two parties in 1934 to become the Scottish National Party.