The by-election was held after the resignation of Robert Gillies for health reasons.
The runner-up James McDonald had represented Bruce up to the 1884 election.
A former representative of the Bruce electorate, William Murray, was invited to contest the by-election but he declined.
[1] J. C. Anderson was born in Bruce and had farmed there for thirteen years.
[2] William Hutchison wrote that he had "many pleasant memories" of the electorate [3] but another correspondent said it was a "very palpable defeat" and denied that the Kaitangata miners were told how to vote.