[1] The vacancy in the Cardiff Boroughs was caused by the appointment of the sitting Liberal Member of Parliament (MP), Sir Edward James Reed to become a Junior Lord of the Treasury,[2] a formal title held by one of the government's assistant Whips in the House of Commons.
At the 1885 general election, he had only narrowly held his seat against his Conservative opponent, Henry Harben, formerly the unsuccessful Tory candidate in Norwich in 1880, a Sussex businessman in the insurance industry in London.
[4] This time the Conservatives selected John Talbot Dillwyn-Llewellyn, a 49-year-old land-owner and brother-in-law of former Cabinet Minister Sir Michael Hicks Beach.
[5] It was reported that a meeting of the local Irish Party had been held at which it was decided, almost unanimously, not to stand a candidate of their own but to recommend a vote for Reed.
[7] The result was re-election for Reed by a majority of 863, a slightly healthier position over the general election of the previous November.