Cowper, Parkes, Campbell and Wilshire had been endorsed as a group by a public meeting to be elected to the four vacancies.[9] Parkes, Campbell and Wilshire all represented City of Sydney in the Legislative Council while Cowper represented County of Durham. There were no political parties at the time and the combination of candidates, pejoratively referred to by Plunkett as "The Bunch", was controversial.[10] Plunket, who had been an appointed member of the Council, campaigned on the slogan "plump for Plunket",[11] a reference to the voting practice of voting for a single candidate rather than the four candidates an elector was entitled to vote for.[12]
After his defeat in this seat, Plunkett unsuccessfully contested North Eastern Boroughs, before being elected for both Argyle and Bathurst (County). Plunket chose to represent Argyle and resigned as member for Bathurst (County).