The by-election resulted from the death of the sitting member Bill Brown of the National Party on 16 October 1967.

The Labour Party ran Joe Walding, its candidate at the previous election, for the by-election.

[1] The National Party selected Palmerston North City Councillor Gordon Cruden as its candidate.

[3] Jamie Wedderspoon, a 22-year-old political science student at Victoria University, stood as a candidate.

[4] The newly formed centrist Democratic Progress Party selected Mr J. Goldingham, the manager of the Palmerston North branch of a sewing machine company, as their candidate.