The 1985 Timaru by-election, triggered by the death of sitting MP Sir Basil Arthur had resulted in National winning the seat from Labour.

These reforms, sometimes known as "Rogernomics", involved monetarist approaches to controlling inflation, corporatisation of government departments, and the removal of tariffs and subsidies.

Lange famously mocked Bolger as "an itinerant masseur, massaging the politically erogenous zones.

"[2] Several groups on the Christian Right (such as the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), Coalition of Concerned Citizens (CCC) and Women for Life) attempted to obtain electoral influence by infiltrating the National Party.

Several CCC supporters contested the election as National candidates, including Rob Wheeler (Mount Albert), Andrew Stanley (Onehunga), and Howard Martin (Papatoetoe).

Although Labour emerged from the election with a 17-seat lead over National, the difference between each party's vote count was considerably smaller.

The Democrats have not regained parliamentary representation under their own name since losing it in these elections, although they did manage to enter parliament as part of the larger Alliance in 1996.

But on 12 July 1988, following a petition to the Electoral Court, Wyatt Creech of the National Party was declared elected by a margin of 34 votes (9,994 to 9,960).

The petition was supported initially by MPs Roger McClay and Winston Peters (who had been involved in challenges in Taupo and Hunua) but not by the party hierarchy, according to Creech's account in a book by Ross Meurant).

Most of the seats won by Labour were in the poorest urban and largest inner-city areas, following the party's typical pattern.

It was also strong in the Western and the Southern poorer areas of Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin, the other three urban centres, as well as in smaller cities such as Hamilton, New Plymouth, Nelson, Napier, Hastings and Palmerston North.

The National Party, also following its traditional patterns, was strongest in rural areas, winning the vast majority of seats in these regions.

Two electorates, East Coast Bays and Pakuranga, were held by the Democrats prior to the election, but were narrowly lost to National candidates.