McGillicuddy Serious Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | The Laird of Hamilton, Graeme Cairns |
| President | Paull Cooke |
| Deputy | KT Julian |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Dissolved | 1999 |
| Headquarters | None |
| Ideology | Funism |
| International affiliation | Jacobitism |
| Colours | Red and Green, Tartan |
| MPs | 0 |
The McGillicuddy Serious Party (McGSP) was a satirical political party or joke party in New Zealand in the late 20th century. Between 1984 and 1999, it provided "colour" to ensure that citizens not take the political process too seriously. The party's logo, the head of a medieval court jester, indicated the intention to critique current systems by poking fun at them.
The party stood candidates in the 1984, 1987, 1990, 1993, 1996 and 1999 general elections and the 1986, 1989, 1992, 1995 and 1998 Local Body elections;[1] along with local-body and parliamentary by-elections and university student association elections.[2]
It gained its highest number of votes in the last first-past-the-post (FPP) general election in 1993, when it stood candidates in 62 out of 99 electorates and received 11,714 votes, 0.61% of the vote.
- ^ "New Zealand Election Results". www.electionresults.govt.nz.
- ^ Salient, magazine of the Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association, 17 August 1987