The People's Choice (previously Christchurch 2021) is a centre-left political ticket that contests elections for the

Christchurch City Council The Christchurch City Council is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Christchurch is Phil Mauger, who ...

, and 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) in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

History

The People's Choice was founded as Christchurch 2021 to contest the 1992 local body elections after the amalgamation of several smaller councils into a larger

in 1989, and brought under one umbrella Labour local candidates with independent centre-left and left. The ticket has an association with the

New Zealand Labour Party The New Zealand Labour Party ( mi, Rōpū Reipa o Aotearoa), or simply Labour (), is a centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers descr ...

, and although it has never run a mayoral candidate under its modern title, it tends to support centre-left mayors both on council and during election campaigns. In 2016, the People's Choice won all three seats it contested in the Christchurch ward of the

. In 2019, it won four urban seats in the Canterbury Regional Council. During the 2019 Christchurch local elections, People's Choice candidates won seven seats in the Christchurch City Council.

Policies and platform

The People's Choice sits to the left of the centre-right ''Independent Citizens'' grouping on council, and supports such initiatives as expanding social housing, making pool entry free for children and their caregivers, and opposing the sale of council-owned assets. In its policy manifesto, the ticket also voices support for a rental warrant of fitness and "supporting Māori economic development through partnership with Ngāi Tahu and other

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peoples Choice Political groupings in New Zealand Politics of Christchurch