McGillicuddy Serious Party
Created | Updated Jan 9, 2006
A Joke Political Party.
Started in Hamilton, New Zealand, by 'Laird' Graeme Cairns, and associated with the University of Waikato, the McGillicuddy Serious Party's core policy, "the Great Leap Backwards" aimed to restore the monarchy under the somewhat tenous Jacobite pretender Bonnie Prince Geoffie (the reluctant), and destroy civilisation, relpacing it with something fuedal and Scottish. It's rival was the Imperial British Conservative Party, headed by the Wizard of Christchurch and supported by a military wing, Alf's Imperial Army, who occasinonally fought Clan Mcgillicuddy with paper swords and water bombs, although not as often as the Clan fought itself; where more than one candidate stood for a seat, trial by combat would decide the loser, (who would be forced to stand for Parliament).
Later the more peaceful method of standing several candidates in the same electorate was adopted, (while it was illegal for the same candidate to contest two seats, increasing their chances of election, there was nothing wrong with a party have two candidates standing for the same seat, and splitting their own vote).
The author stood for the McGillicuddys in 1990, as a result of which he learnt that
-You should never sign up to anything when drunk
-Politics is so boring, that if you take 10 minutes to type some bad bad jokes in your lunch hour, and call it a press release, you can get on national news and every morning paper.
-MPs who threaten you with defamation don't know what it is, even if they helped pass the defamation act.
-Before ringning the sure bet favourite candidate to congratulate them on their victory, you should check if they actually won, lest they think you are being deliberately rude because fo their defamation threats.
-If you say you spent $14 something New Zealand monopoly money on your electoral expenses, you will get audited. It is therefore vitally important to keep the reciept for $2 worth of photocopying. Otherwise they will write your expenses down to $12 something :-).
Despite contesting most seats in half a dozen elections, the McGillicuddy Serious Party has, unsurprisingly never came close to winning a seat anywhere, although on occasion the press talked up their chances. In the 1993 Tauranga by-election, the McGillicuddy Serious party candidate finished a very very distant second, (behind the Hon. Winston Peters). But only cause the real parties withdrew.
The party was unsuccesful in it's attempt to exploit an electoral loophole and stand a hedgehog for office. Despite the Blokes Liberation Front managing to get a into the Waiheke Mayoral race.
In a similar manner to the British Monster Raving Loony party, the McGillicuddy Serious parties initial (lack of) success attracted serious anarchists - faced with the possibility of the organisation actually living up to it's middle name, the McGillicuddy Serious Party was disbanded by it's organisers after the 1999 elections. Former members Metiria Turei and Nandor Tanczos were subsquently elected to parliament for the Green party. Cecil G. Murgatroyd, joined the rival Imperial British Conservative Party, and took it into Australia.
McGillicuddy Serious Party's election promises include;
-Good Weather.
-Post-natal abortion.
-Full employment through slavery.
-Replacing money with chocolate fish.
-Changing the voteing age from a minimum to a maximum, (i.e. only minors could vote).
-Ending male suffrage.
-Giving the vote to trees.
-Creating a naval shipyard to build dreadnoughts on the Tamaki estuary.
-An All Whites victory in the soccer world cup.
-To break their promises.
In what was not the most rational or coherent press release ever posted on the web, a group calling themselves the McGillicuddy Serious Party announced, that they would stand in several seats in the NZ general election on 17 September 2005. It is still not clear who this group is, whether they really represent the McGillicuddy Serious party, whether they will stand, whether they are funny, whether they are anarchists, or whether who ever wrote the press release is just a few cans short of a six pack. Wikipedia's McGillicuddy Serious party entry is at the time of writing being vandalised almost daily by both sides who seem to have, unfortunately, started to take themselves a little too seriously.
Started in Hamilton, New Zealand, by 'Laird' Graeme Cairns, and associated with the University of Waikato, the McGillicuddy Serious Party's core policy, "the Great Leap Backwards" aimed to restore the monarchy under the somewhat tenous Jacobite pretender Bonnie Prince Geoffie (the reluctant), and destroy civilisation, relpacing it with something fuedal and Scottish. It's rival was the Imperial British Conservative Party, headed by the Wizard of Christchurch and supported by a military wing, Alf's Imperial Army, who occasinonally fought Clan Mcgillicuddy with paper swords and water bombs, although not as often as the Clan fought itself; where more than one candidate stood for a seat, trial by combat would decide the loser, (who would be forced to stand for Parliament).
Later the more peaceful method of standing several candidates in the same electorate was adopted, (while it was illegal for the same candidate to contest two seats, increasing their chances of election, there was nothing wrong with a party have two candidates standing for the same seat, and splitting their own vote).
The author stood for the McGillicuddys in 1990, as a result of which he learnt that
-You should never sign up to anything when drunk
-Politics is so boring, that if you take 10 minutes to type some bad bad jokes in your lunch hour, and call it a press release, you can get on national news and every morning paper.
-MPs who threaten you with defamation don't know what it is, even if they helped pass the defamation act.
-Before ringning the sure bet favourite candidate to congratulate them on their victory, you should check if they actually won, lest they think you are being deliberately rude because fo their defamation threats.
-If you say you spent $14 something New Zealand monopoly money on your electoral expenses, you will get audited. It is therefore vitally important to keep the reciept for $2 worth of photocopying. Otherwise they will write your expenses down to $12 something :-).
Despite contesting most seats in half a dozen elections, the McGillicuddy Serious Party has, unsurprisingly never came close to winning a seat anywhere, although on occasion the press talked up their chances. In the 1993 Tauranga by-election, the McGillicuddy Serious party candidate finished a very very distant second, (behind the Hon. Winston Peters). But only cause the real parties withdrew.
The party was unsuccesful in it's attempt to exploit an electoral loophole and stand a hedgehog for office. Despite the Blokes Liberation Front managing to get a into the Waiheke Mayoral race.
In a similar manner to the British Monster Raving Loony party, the McGillicuddy Serious parties initial (lack of) success attracted serious anarchists - faced with the possibility of the organisation actually living up to it's middle name, the McGillicuddy Serious Party was disbanded by it's organisers after the 1999 elections. Former members Metiria Turei and Nandor Tanczos were subsquently elected to parliament for the Green party. Cecil G. Murgatroyd, joined the rival Imperial British Conservative Party, and took it into Australia.
McGillicuddy Serious Party's election promises include;
-Good Weather.
-Post-natal abortion.
-Full employment through slavery.
-Replacing money with chocolate fish.
-Changing the voteing age from a minimum to a maximum, (i.e. only minors could vote).
-Ending male suffrage.
-Giving the vote to trees.
-Creating a naval shipyard to build dreadnoughts on the Tamaki estuary.
-An All Whites victory in the soccer world cup.
-To break their promises.
In what was not the most rational or coherent press release ever posted on the web, a group calling themselves the McGillicuddy Serious Party announced, that they would stand in several seats in the NZ general election on 17 September 2005. It is still not clear who this group is, whether they really represent the McGillicuddy Serious party, whether they will stand, whether they are funny, whether they are anarchists, or whether who ever wrote the press release is just a few cans short of a six pack. Wikipedia's McGillicuddy Serious party entry is at the time of writing being vandalised almost daily by both sides who seem to have, unfortunately, started to take themselves a little too seriously.
