The Civilian Party was a

frivolous 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. This is a list of frivolous political par ...

founded by political satirist Ben Uffindell. It contested the

2014 New Zealand general election The 2014 New Zealand general election took place on Saturday 20 September 2014 to determine the membership of the 51st New Zealand Parliament. Voters elected 121 members to the House of Representatives, with 71 from single-member electorates ...

before disbanding. The party was deregistered at its own request on 5 May 2015.

History

Uffindell, who finished a degree in political science at

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

in 2012, started ''

The Civilian ''The Civilian'' is a satirical New Zealand website. It was started in 2013 by Ben Uffindell, who finished a degree in political science at University of Canterbury in 2012. It has been compared to the US satirical website/newspaper ''The Onion' ...

'' as a

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

New Zealand online newspaper in 2013. Uffindell claimed an average of 20,000–25,000 page views per day. On 7 June 2013, ''The Civilian'' announced its intention to register a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

and to charge fifty cents as a membership fee. Prediction market

iPredict iPredict was a New Zealand prediction market that offered prediction exchanges on current events, political issues and economic issues. iPredict was jointly owned by the New Zealand Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation and Vict ...

listed a contract on 21 June 2013 measuring the likelihood of the registration of The Civilian Party before the 2014 general election. Uffindell gave an interview as

party leader In a governmental system, a party leader acts as the official representative of their political party, either to a legislature or to the electorate. Depending on the country, the individual colloquially referred to as the "leader" of a political ...

on TV3's current-affairs television programme ''The Nation'' and outlined some of the party's policies, including: * increased taxes for the poor and decreased taxes for the wealthy to disincentivise poverty * giving a

llama The llama (; ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a List of meat animals, meat and pack animal by Inca empire, Andean cultures since the Pre-Columbian era. Llamas are social animals and live with othe ...

to every child living in poverty * one free tub of ice cream for every citizen * declaring national independence from the city of

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

In June 2014 the party came under criticism for receiving $33,635 in political-party funding from the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

. Prime Minister

John Key Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th prime minister of New Zealand, Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as Leader of the New Zealand National Party from 2006 to ...

commented that "the Civilian Party will be thinking the biggest joke's on us, the taxpayer", and the

New Zealand Taxpayers' Union The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union is a self-described taxpayer pressure group founded in 2013 to scrutinise government spending, publicise government waste, and promote an efficient tax system. It claims to be politically independent and not align ...

reacted negatively. However, party leader Ben Uffindell said that considering the party had asked for $1 million in funding, $33,000 was "a bad deal". He also pointed out: "There are other joke parties getting funding, like the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

and ACT." On 23 July 2014 the party applied to the

for registration. The party was formally registered on 11 August 2014. The party received 1,096 votes (0.05%) in the 2014 general election. The party was deregistered at its own request on 5 May 2015.

Electoral results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Civilian Party, The 2014 establishments in New Zealand Joke political parties in New Zealand Defunct political parties in New Zealand 2015 disestablishments in New Zealand