- Bill and Ben Party
Infobox New Zealand Political Party
name_english = Bill and Ben
name_maori =
party_
party_wikicolourid = NZFP
leader = Ben Boyce and Jamie Linehan
president =
deputy =
mps = None
foundation =2008
ideology = joke party
international =
colours = dark green
headquarters =
website =The Bill and Ben Party is a
joke political party inNew Zealand . The party's leaders are Jamie Linehan and Ben Boyce ("Bill" and Ben) of theTV3 satirical sports showPulp Sport .As a
joke political party , it shares a rich and varied heritage with the vanished formerMcGillicuddy Serious Party andImperial British Conservative Party , both humorous political entities which contested New Zealand general elections from the seventies until the late nineties.In early 2008, Ben Boyce came up with the idea of having a political party. Initially, Bill was lukewarm about the proposed new political party, prefering a
1970s themed party instead. After initial confusion was remedied, the duo decided that they should run for parliament.According to their Facebook page , however, they may have misconstrued the meaning of the word 'run.' Bill had always fancied himself as a long distance runner placing 3rd in the Bay 10k Under 12 Champs in 1990 and Ben was happy to follow him in his beat up Nissan Sunny due to lack of exercise, so Messrs Boyce and Linehan would henceforth run for Parliament [cite web |url=http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Bill-and-Ben-Party/15629742821
title=The Bill and Ben Party Facebook Page |date=2008-08-04 |accessdate=2008-08-04 |publisher=Facebook - Activities]The Bill and Ben party wanted their policy to be “New Zealand’s lowest food prices” but Pak n Save, a low priced New Zealand
supermarket chain, had already beaten them to it. This led to a legal battle and the Bill and Ben party plan to provide New Zealanders with cheaper cheese by the end of the year, as priceinflation has driven up the cost of this foodstuff for New Zealandgrocery shoppers. [cite web |url=http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Bill-and-Ben-Party/15629742821
title=The Bill and Ben Party Facebook Page |date=2008-08-04 |accessdate=2008-08-04 |publisher=Facebook - Interests]The Bill and Ben Party promise to promise nothing. However, by promising no promises they are making a promise, but that’s the only promise that they have made. They promise. [cite web |url=http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Bill-and-Ben-Party/15629742821
title=The Bill and Ben Party Facebook Page |date=2008-08-04 |accessdate=2008-08-04 |publisher=Facebook - About Me]On
1 July 2008 the party applied for registration with the Electoral Commission, which would allow it to contest the party vote. [cite web |url=http://www.elections.org.nz/news/applications-to-register-parties-and-a-party-logo.html |title=Applications to register parties and a party logo |publisher=New Zealand Electoral Commission |date=2008-07-01 |accessdate=2008-07-03] The party was registered by the Electoral Commission on29 July 2008 . [cite web |url=http://www.elections.org.nz/news/electoral-commission-meeting-29jul08.html |title=Electoral Commission meeting summary |date=2008-07-29 |accessdate=2008-07-29 |publisher=New Zealand Electoral Commission]On
31 July 2008 the party applied to register a logo with the Electoral Commission. [cite web |url=http://www.elections.org.nz/news/registration-applications-310708.html |title=Applications to register a party and a party logo |date=2008-07-31 |accessdate=2008-07-31 |publisher=New Zealand Electoral Commission]References
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