NZ South Island Party

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NZ South Island Party
Leader Pat McCarrigan
Alan McDonald
Headquarters Dunedin
Ideology Regionalist
International affiliationNot Affiliated
MPs in the House of Representatives 0

The NZ South Island Party was a short-lived New Zealand regionalist political party, advocating greater representational say for the South Island. The party is no longer registered. Its aims were for the establishment of a regional assembly to handle issues relating directly to the South Island.

The party was founded in 1997, and by May 1998 had over 1,000 members including 40 North Islanders, with 13 active branches. [1] It was based in the Otago region, and led by Dunedin publican Pat McCarrigan and former trade unionist Alan McDonald.[ citation needed ] Peter Dunne, MP for United Future, was not a member but agreed to ask questions on behalf of the party in Parliament. [2]

The party was not effective in achieving a wide acclaim, poor organisation and lack of financial resources probably being to blame.[ citation needed ] In 1998 three former members launched a separate political party called Majority Choice, citing concerns about policy differences. McDonald said he did not expect this to affect the growth of the South Island Party. [3] In the 1999 elections, the party put forward five electorate candidates and seven list candidates. [4]

The party won no seats in 1999. It received 0.14% of the party vote (2,912 votes in total), [5] and its highest percentage of the party vote in any seat was 1.4%, in Clutha-Southland. [5] Its best showing in any electorate was to receive 2.6% of the electorate vote (912 votes, by Margaret McCarrigan in Dunedin South). [6] [7] It had been estimated that it would have needed over 18% of the party vote of South Island residents in order to meet the 5% threshold to enter Parliament. [8]

The party's registration was cancelled at its own request [9] on 14 June 2002, and it did not contest the 2002 elections.

The South Island Independence movement is not a political party in its own right and may not be considered as being connected with the South Island Party, but its aims are generally regarded as being closely linked with those expressed by the South Island Party.

References

  1. ↑ Brewer, Cameron (24 May 1998). "South Island Party numbers 1000". Sunday Star-Times. p. A8.
  2. ↑ "New branch of South Island party". The Southland Times. 19 September 1997. p. 16.
  3. ↑ "Defectors launch political party". The Press. 17 July 1998. p. 6.
  4. ↑ "Summary of Overall Results". NZ Electoral Commission. 1999.
  5. 1 2 "Official Count Results (1999) – Electoral Votes for registered parties by electorate". NZ Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 14 January 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  6. ↑ "'It will happen' - South Island Independence Movement vows to break away". 1News. 1 August 2018.
  7. ↑ "Official Count Results (1999) – Candidate Vote Details". NZ Electoral Commission. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  8. ↑ "Uphill struggle for South Island party". The Southland Times. 27 September 1997. p. 4.
  9. ↑ Political Parties’ Registration Cancelled
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