The seat was vacated following the resignation of David Shearer, a former Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party.

The electorate was won by Labour Party list MP Jacinda Ardern by a large margin.

Mount Albert (known as Owairaka from 1996 to 1999) was held between 1981 and 2009 by Helen Clark, ending with her retirement from parliament.

[3] On 8 December 2016, David Shearer, a former leader of Labour, announced that he was going to head the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.

After the counting of special votes, the Electoral Commission recorded a turnout of only 30% of enrolled voters in Mount Albert.

[24] The following table shows the final results:[25] Notes: Blue background denotes the winner of the by-election.

[26][27] Huo was the third-highest unelected person on Labour's party list, but both Maryan Street and Moana Mackey announced they would decline the chance to return to Parliament.