The by-election resulted from the resignation of the previous member Colin Moyle after accusations against him in parliament, and he was replaced by David Lange, also of the Labour Party.

The local members preferred Moore whilst the Labour Party head office favoured Jelicich resulting in Lange being selected as a compromise candidate.

He was an unsuccessful candidate on the Labour ticket for the Auckland City Council at the 1974 local elections and had stood for parliament in Hobson in 1975, placing third.

His policies were largely conservative and he drove around in a Rolls-Royce followed by several other glamorous cars in a motorcade which jarred with the lower-middle class nature of the locals.

[10] Barry Shaw ran as an independent labour candidate and Brigid Mulrennan stood for the Socialist Action Party, both had contested Auckland Central in 1975.