Matty Kennedy first game for "Killie" in a 2–1 win over St Mirren at Rugby Park on 2 January 2012. He ended the 2011–12 campaign with 11 Scottish Premier League appearances. He played three games at the start of the 2012–13 season before leaving the club; manager Kenny Shiels expressed his concern that Kennedy had left Kilmarnock too soon and he had missed out on seeing Kennedy's "proper development" at the club. On 31 August 2012, the final day of the summer transfer window, Kennedy signed for English Premier League side Everton for a "nominal fee". The fee was later revealed to
William Shiels became Premier. The Shiels government responded to the financial disaster of the 1892 crash in the orthodox fashion of the time, cutting spending and increasing taxation to balance the budget – measures which only made the situation worse. The conservatives who had supported the coalition governments of Duncan Gillies and Munro opposed increased taxation, and during 1892 they deserted Shiels. In January 1893 the conservative leader James Patterson moved a successful no-confidence motion, and Shiels resigned. Shiels stayed in politics and kept his reputation for integrity. He was Treasurer under Allan McLean (1899–1900) and William Irvine (1902–1903) and Minister for