Christchurch East was re-created for the . The election was contested by Thomas Davey (who had been a representative of the City of Christchurch electorate for the Liberal Party since ), William Whitehouse Collins (who had previously been in Parliament for the Liberal Party), Henry Toogood (a young engineer who only recently left Canterbury College and who would become one of the founding members of the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand), and Frederick Cooke (a prominent member of the Socialist Party). Davey was successful.