joke political party
A frivolous party or a joke party is a political party which has been created for the purposes of entertainment or political satire. Such a party may or may not have a serious point behind its activities. Many countries have had a Pirate Party wh ...
formed in 2008 and voluntarily deregistered in 2010. The party's leaders were Jamie Linehan and
Ben Boyce
Ben Boyce is a New Zealand television and radio personality and comedian best known as the host of TV shows '' Pulp Sport'', '' Wanna-Ben'' and '' Jono and Ben'' on TV3.
Biography
Boyce is a graduate of the New Zealand Broadcasting School at ...
("Bill and Ben") of the
TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to:
Television
*Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso
* Canal 3 Niger, a commercial television channel in Niger
* Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala
* Can ...
satirical sports show ''
Pulp Sport
''Pulp Sport'' is a New Zealand television show that mixes sport with various styles of comedy. The hosts Jamie Linehan and Ben Boyce acted under their respective pseudonyms Bill and Ben, performing a half-hour of various sports based skits. ...
''. In the 2008 general election the party secured 0.56% of the vote and the ninth-highest number of votes, outpolling every other party not in parliament prior to the election.Elections.govt.nz /ref>
On 1 July 2008 the party applied for registration with the Electoral Commission, which would allow it to contest the party vote. The party was registered by the Electoral Commission on 29 July 2008. On 31 July 2008 the party applied to register a logo with the Electoral Commission.
The party states that it managed to secure its required 500 members for Electoral Act registration after locating the requisite number of inebriated university students outside a student drinking establishment.
2008 general election
For the 2008 general election, the party chose not to apply for the $10,000 in advertising money that all political parties are entitled to. It felt this was a waste of taxpayer's money, and self-funded its advertising. This also meant that it did not qualify for a TVNZ Political Party Opening Address.
It stood on a "no policies, no promises, no disappointment" platform and had the slogan "We're putting the party back in political party". It is understood New Zealand First Leader
Winston Peters
Winston Raymond Peters (born 11 April 1945) is a New Zealand politician. He has led the political party New Zealand First since he founded it in 1993, and since November 2023 has served as the 25th Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand), ...
took exception to one of its election signs, which used the phrase "C'mon, you voted Winston in".
In the election on 8 November, the party secured 13,016 votes (0.56% of votes),Chief Electoral Office: Official Count Results: Overall Status allowing a refund of the $1000 party registration fee. It put the money on the bar in
Invercargill
Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...
as it received more votes from there than anywhere else.
Even though it was a joke political party, it out-polled all but one party (
New Zealand First
New Zealand First (), commonly abbreviated to NZ First or NZF, is a political party in New Zealand, founded and led by Winston Peters, who has served three times as Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand, deputy prime minister. The party has form ...
) that did not gain representation in the last election hat year? including every other new party: the
New Zealand Pacific Party
The New Zealand Pacific Party was a Christianity, Christian political party that existed in New Zealand from 2008 to 2010. The party was founded as a vehicle for former New Zealand Labour Party, Labour MP Taito Phillip Field, who was subsequent ...
,
The Kiwi Party
The Kiwi Party was a political party operating in New Zealand between 2007 and 2011. Briefly known as Future New Zealand, it was a breakaway from the United Future New Zealand party and sought to carry on the tradition of Future New Zealand. Th ...
,
The Family Party
The Family Party was a political party in New Zealand. It described itself as a Christianity and politics, Christian party.Workers Party and the
Residents Action Movement
The Residents Action Movement (or RAM) was a political party in New Zealand. RAM described itself as "a mass membership, broad left, grassroots movement of social change". Its national chair was Grant Morgan and its co-leaders were Oliver Woods ...
. It gained the ninth-highest number of votes out of the 19 parties in the election, and would have earned a seat if there had been no electoral threshold. It spent NZ$3,777 on advertising, $0.29 per vote, making it the most effective party in terms of dollars per vote.
Due to the way that
mixed member proportional representation
Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP or MMPR) is a type of representation provided by some mixed electoral system, mixed electoral systems which combine local Winner-take-all system, winner-take-all elections with a Compensation (el ...
works, had the party crossed the minimum 5% threshold required to be admitted to parliament without an electorate seat, the total number of MPs would have been reduced by about four (an " underhang"). This is because 5% of the vote would entitle it to approximately six MPs but it had only two candidates (Bill and Ben) on its party list. However, the underhang would have partially been cancelled out by the
Māori Party
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
's overhang, having won five electorate seats when entitled to only three by the party vote.
2009 Mount Albert by-election
Ben stood in the Mount Albert by-election on 13 June 2009 and secured 151 votes (0.76% of the vote), coming fifth. This is an improvement on the 0.38% party vote obtained in Mt Albert at the 2008 election. He out-polled the candidate from
United Future New Zealand
United Future New Zealand, usually known as United Future, was a centrist political party in New Zealand. The party was in government between 2005 and 2017, first alongside Labour (2005–2008) and then supporting National (2008–2017).
...
, a former MP, and every other micro party and independent candidate, including the
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party (ALCP), also known as the Cannabis Party, is a political party in New Zealand. It is dedicated to the legalisation of cannabis for medical, recreational and industrial use. It was founded in 1996 and has stood i ...
and
The Kiwi Party
The Kiwi Party was a political party operating in New Zealand between 2007 and 2011. Briefly known as Future New Zealand, it was a breakaway from the United Future New Zealand party and sought to carry on the tradition of Future New Zealand. Th ...
.
Deregistration
On 17 March 2010 the party applied to the Electoral Commission to be deregistered, which took effect on 29 April 2010.