The People's Movement was 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 ...

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 ...

. It was active in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and was

individualist Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and to value independence and self-relianc ...

in outlook. It campaigned for a reduction in the size of government, a reform of the

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

, a limit on the powers of political parties, and an end to the governing Labour Party's "socialist" policies. Although the Movement had a relatively high political profile, it did not achieve any notable successes. In April 1940, the Movement was joined by

Albert Davy Albert Ernest Davy (17 August 1886 – 13 June 1959) was a New Zealand political organiser and campaign manager; and at the height of his career, was regarded as one of the best in the country. He was a strong opponent of socialism, and spent m ...

, an astute political organiser who had been credited with successful campaigns for the United Party and the Reform Party. However his Democrat Party formed in 1934 only split the conservative vote in the and the , and aided the 1935

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

landslide. Again, Davy and the People's Movement failed to make much impact. In February 1941, a faction of the Movement merged into the National Party, and in 1942, Davy branched off to found the

New Zealand Co-operative Party The New Zealand Co-operative Party or the United Liberal Co-operative Party was a short-lived political party in New Zealand. It was founded in December 1941 by anti-socialist political organiser Albert Davy Albert Ernest Davy (17 August 1886 ...

. In the 1943 elections, the remnants of the People's Movement (organised by Davy) sponsored 25 candidates under the name of the "Independent Group" or "Independent People's Group" (IPG), but the candidates got only 7,389 votes (0.89%; provisional vote count) and none were elected. Davy complained that the 1943 election was decided on "strictly party" lines, and said that the effect of the Democratic Labour Party standing was to give six seats to the National Party.

References

Defunct political parties in New Zealand {{NewZealand-party-stub