[2] The by-election was somewhat embarrassing for the National Party, whose candidate was pushed into third place by Social Credit's Terry Heffernan.

His absence was noticed at Labour's first caucus meeting in February 1979 and Labour leader Bill Rowling stated he had visited Barclay earlier and expressed concern at his health after Barclay had become unable to perform his electorate duties earlier in the month.

Palmer was chosen and his success as the nominee was announced by party president Jim Anderton to the members present at 2:00 am.

[9] The following table gives the election results: Labour increased its vote slightly but the largest gains were made by the Social Credit Party, who came second in an urban seat for the first time in its history.

National were pushed into third place who saw their vote shrink to the point where its candidate only just managed to avoid losing their deposit.