On 9 November 1921 Dawes was chosen as Mayor of Dartmouth in Devon where he had his country home.[15] His appointment was not to last long however as he died on 14 November 1921 at Sydenham at the age of 55 years.[16] His death caused a by-election in Southwark which was won by Thomas Ellis Naylor for Labour. Dawes was buried in the churchyard at Perivale, a suburb of Ealing.