The seat of Southern Maori became vacant following the death of the sitting member John Hopere Wharewiti Uru on 29 November 1921.

[1] Four candidates contested the seat, which was won by the younger brother of the deceased member, Henry Whakatau Uru,[1] known as Harry.

According to the local Christchurch newspaper, The Press of Thursday, 26 January 1922 (page 6), the new member was a supporter of the Reform government led by William Massey, not an Independent as it had stated the day before, when Teone Erihana was described as a 'Government' candidate and all the others as 'Independent'.

The election result given by The Press was two votes higher than the official result published in the New Zealand Gazette of 9 February (page 440) i.e. 814 not 812, with Uru as 365 not 364 and Pitama as 109 not 108.

Although electoral rolls of eligible voters were not published for Maori seats, The Press said that proportion voting was higher than in European seats, as the number on the roll was just over 1000.