List of frivolous political parties

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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 parties.

Contents

Some more serious political parties, such as the Rent Is Too Damn High Party, may use the same tactics and humorous approaches to politics as their more frivolous counterparts but aim to address legitimate sociopolitical issues, something that some frivolous parties do not do. By contrast, fake political parties try to resemble serious and genuine political parties for nefarious purposes, such as voter suppression, embezzlement of state funding, division and dilution of voter interest groups, et al. Some fake parties may actually model themselves after frivolous parties in an analogous fashion.

Australia

Austria

Austria-Hungary, Czechoslovakia

Belarus

Canada

Czech Republic

Denmark

Estonia

Faroe Islands

France

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Iceland

Iran

Italy

Japan

Kosovo

Lithuania

New Zealand

Netherlands

Norway

Poland

Romania

Russia

Serbia

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

Taiwan

Ukraine

United Kingdom

United States

See also

Notes

  1. Founded by Takashi Tachibana in 2013, initially as The Party to Protect the People from the NHK (NHK kara Kokumin o Mamoru tō, NHKから国民を守る党), to oppose the license fees for the national broadcasting organization NHK stipulated by the 1950 Broadcasting Law  [ ja ]. The party has changed its name repeatedly since then. Its candidates and officeholders possess a record of extensive controversy, and the party has used humor and satire enough to be labeled a frivolous party by its detractors. For example, Tachibana has claimed that NHK license fee collectors have yakuza connections, and Yoshikazu Higashitani, who was elected into the House of Councillors as part of the NHK Party in 2022, refused to enter Japan serve in his duty due to concerns of being a wanted fugitive. In 2023, two former members formed a new party with the previous name, which focuses on the core issue of scrambling NHK and ending TV license fees.
  2. Most pirate parties do not qualify as frivolous parties. However, due to strict laws regarding media piracy in Japan, Japanese pirate party initiatives have resorted to satire, entertainment, and pop culture references rather than direct advocacy for law reform.
  3. Founded by Yuya Watase  [ ja ] in 2010, the Tokyo Tea Party initially began as an anti-tax movement, then gradually retooled itself as a satirical parody of the American Tea Party movement following the 2009 nationwide income tax protests. The party lost its momentum after 2012, ceased operations after 2013, and may have existed in some form until the end of 2019.
  4. Party of perennial joke candidate Teruki Gotō; other parties claimed by him have included "Teruki Goto and the Party that Changes the World", "A Sugar That Makes Shinshu Nagano Prefecture Chino City Healthy", "Opposition to Charging for Household Waste Party", et al.
  5. Despite the serious history of anarchism, in recent years the Ukrainian Anarchist Union has organized fake and comedic protests where they promote the caricature version of anarcho-capitalism, accuse all government officials of corruption for reasons including that they accept salaries, demand the abolition of government and police, and simultaneously criticize the government for underfunding social programs.
  6. Merged into Official Monster Raving Loony Party in 2007; reclassified itself as a protest group in 2008.
  7. Party of perennial joke candidate Lord Buckethead, played by Jonathan David Harvey. Also associated with the Official Monster Raving Loony Party. The character of Lord Buckethead was retired after 2019 due to a copyright dispute.
  8. Party of perennial joke candidate Count Binface, played by Jonathan David Harvey.
  9. Fictional party featuring Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck as candidate.

References

  1. List of parties competing in the 1989 ACT election Archived April 12, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Európai parlamenti képviselők választása 2019 – MKKP listája".
  3. Milani, Abbas (2008). Eminent Persians: The Men and Women who Made Modern Iran, 1941–1979. Vol. 1. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press. p. 408. ISBN   978-0815609070.
  4. Allen, Jay (25 July 2019). "The Fools: A Joke Political Party in Japan Wins a Seat (and Taxpayer Funds)". Unseen Japan. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
  5. "Pirate Party Japan". Archived from the original on 16 October 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  6. "Pirate Party Okinawa". Facebook. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  7. Harner, Stephen (28 December 2010). "First Meeting of the Tokyo Tea Party". Forbes. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  8. Ball, Molly (14 May 2012). "Can the Tea Party Take Japan?". The Atlantic. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  9. "Teruki Goto's Political Broadcast 2024 [NHK Version] – Tokyo Governor Election, Imperial Calendar 2684, Love & Peace Party, Teruki Goto (後藤輝樹の政見放送 西暦2024年【NHK版】都知事選 皇暦2684年東京都知事選挙ラブ&ピース党ゴトウテルキ)" (in Japanese). YouTube. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
  10. "Gotō Teruki (後藤輝樹)" (in Japanese). YouTube. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
  11. "Bald Party needs a crown prince". The Independent. 10 August 1994. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
  12. 1 2 "The 11 best-named political parties". The Week. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
  13. "Kalachev's Declaration (Публикация Калачева)". Telegram (in Russian). Archived from the original on 23 February 2024. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  14. "Darth Vader Bloc (БЛОК ДАРТА ВЕЙДЕРА)" (in Ukrainian). Chesno.org PolitHub. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
  15. Voron, Valeriy (30 September 2015). ""Strange" Parties are Headed to the Polls ("Дивні" партії ідуть на вибори)". OnPress (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 10 October 2025.
  16. "Satirical-Democratic Party of Ukraine (Сатирично-Демократична Партія України)" (in Ukrainian). YouTube. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  17. "Сатирично-демократична партія. Коміки театру Маски-шоу створюють свою політичну силу" (in Ukrainian). 29 August 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  18. ""Сатирично-демократична партія" обгородила парламент стрічкою" (in Ukrainian). 17 September 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  19. "Союз Анархистов Украины" (in Russian). Retrieved 16 July 2025.
  20. "Ukrainian Cossack Party (Козацька Українська Партія)" (in Ukrainian). Chesno.org PolitHub. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
  21. "Give Me Back Elmo - Bobby Smith". Give Me Back Elmo. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
  22. Withey, Josh (9 June 2017). "Forget Lord Buckethead. A man named Bobby 'Elmo' Smith got three votes against Theresa May". indy100. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
  23. MacNeil, Kyle (27 June 2024). "Inside the wild world of novelty political candidates". Huck Magazine. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
  24. "The Fiver: Five of the Oddest UK Political Parties". Anglotopia. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
  25. 1 2 "Top Ten Weird British Political Parties". The Glasgow Times. 29 August 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
  26. "Citizens for Undead Rights and Equality – Political Party Details". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
  27. "Registration Summary – Al-Zebabist Nation of OOOG". UK Electoral Commission. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
  28. "Kanye West Says He's Done with Trump—Opens up About White House Bid, Damaging Biden and Everything in Between". Forbes .
  29. Daniels, Les (1991). Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics. New York, New York: Harry N. Abrams. p. 174. ISBN   9780810938212. Stan Lee ... recalls that the duck received thousands of write-in votes when he ran for President of the United States against Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Further reading