The Liberals had won the seat comfortably in 1885, with Powell heavily defeating the former Conservative member for Carmarthenshire, Viscount Emlyn.
[1] There was no certainty that the Conservatives would contest the seat, and an editorial in the Liberal-inclined Carmarthen newspaper, the Welshman, expressed the view that unless the former member, Lord Emlyn, could be induced to come forward, the party's prospects were poor.
[2] Emlyn declined, and the Conservative choice, fell upon Hugh Williams-Drummond, a member of another prominent Carmarthenshire family.
Thus, within a couple of weeks, both the Liberal and Conservative parties had chosen candidates who were of a similar age and who were both fighting their first parliamentary campaign.
John Lloyd Morgan, the Liberal candidate, was thought to have an advantage over his Conservative opponent, Hugh Williams-Drummond, in that he was known to the electorate, having spoken for the former member at the previous election.