The People's Choice Party (also Peoples Choice Party or PCP) was a New Zealand political party. It was a registered party from 1999 to 2002, and its members have contested mayoral, local, and national elections since 1998.

History

The People's Choice Party was formed in 1999 by Rusty Kane and Doug Wilson. Wilson had previously held a protest walk from

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, during which he collected 56,000 signatures for a petition. Wilson stood for the

1998 Taranaki-King Country by-election The Taranaki-King Country by-election was a by-election in the New Zealand electorates, New Zealand electorate of Taranaki-King Country, a large and predominantly rural district in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It took place on 2 May 19 ...

as a candidate for People's Choice. The People's Choice Party was officially registered before the 1999 election, which required at least 500 paid members. The party contested the 1999 general election to show opposition to the MMP voting system and received 387 party votes and a total of 154 electorate votes in two electorates. This included Kane standing in the

Te Tai Hauāuru Te Tai Hauāuru electorate boundaries used since the Te Tai Hauāuru is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives, that was first formed for the . The electorat ...

Maori electorate, the first non-Maori to stand in that seat. The party was deregistered after Doug Wilson's retirement in 2002. However, it continued to act as an unregistered party and Rusty Kane remained active in politics. As of 2015, Kane had unsuccessfully stood in six national elections, run for the Stratford mayoralty, the Taranaki District Health Board, twice for a place on the Taranaki Regional Council, and once for the New Plymouth council. He also ran for Bay of Plenty Regional Council in 2016. He has frequently stood for electorates and local councils for areas he does not live and has been described as a "serial campaigner" and as "the man who runs more than a nose during winter". Kane has run sometimes under the People's Choice banner and sometimes as an independent; he also joined the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

but left in 2012 citing its 'anti-gay stance'. Kane has described the party as a "

ginger group The Ginger Group was not a formal political party in Canada, but a faction of radical Progressive and Labour Members of Parliament who advocated socialism. The term ginger group also refers to a small group with new, radical ideas trying to act ...

, set up to advocate a political voice on behalf of small groups and individuals". Kane has stated that the party seeks to highlight issues, not to win seats. For example, the party stood in the 2009 Mt Albert by-election to support the binding of Citizens Initiated Referenda.

Other uses of the name

In 2016, The People's Choice began to contest local body elections and won three counselor seats on the

Canterbury Regional Council Environment Canterbury, frequently abbreviated to ECan. is the promotional name for the Canterbury Regional Council. It is the regional council for Canterbury, the largest region in the South Island of New Zealand. It is part of New Zealand's st ...

(Environment Canterbury). However, the group's website does not mention Kane, Wilson, or a history of past action and the group appears unconnected to Kane's party.

References

{{Reflist Defunct political parties in New Zealand Political parties in New Zealand Political parties established in 1999 1999 establishments in New Zealand