The by-election was held on 15 June 1985 and was won by Maurice McTigue of the National Party with a majority of 1,492 votes.

[5] Lynley Simmons, a district commissioner of apprenticeships at the Department of Labour, was selected for the by-election.

Previously he had unsuccessfully sought Labour candidacy for Papanui and Christchurch Central.

[8] David Lange recalled a meeting during the by-election campaign when Labour general secretary Tony Timms manhandled a noisy heckler out of the building.

He said that the Labour candidate Jan Walker was a good lawyer (and was later a Family Court judge), but that the Labour Party organisation (i.e. head office) insisted on the selection of a candidate who "did not live in Timaru and her opinions, and even her appearance, were at odds with the conservative character of the electorate"; although Jim Anderton predictably (and publicly) blamed the defeat on "the government's abandonment of traditional Labour policy".