Bill and Ben Party
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Bill and Ben
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| Leader | Ben Boyce and Jamie Linehan |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Dissolved | 29 April 2010 |
| Ideology | Joke political party |
| Colours | Dark green |
| Website | |
The Bill and Ben Party was a New Zealand joke political party formed in 2008 and voluntarily deregistered in 2010. The party's leaders were Jamie Linehan and Ben Boyce ("Bill" and Ben) of the TV3 satirical sports show Pulp Sport. In the 2008 general election the party secured 0.56% of the vote, outpolling every other party not in parliament prior to the election (New Zealand First, a party in parliament prior to the election, failed to gain representation in the subsequent parliament). It gained the ninth-highest number of votes out of the 19 parties standing for election.
As a joke political party, it shared a rich and varied heritage with the former McGillicuddy Serious Party and Imperial British Conservative Party, both humorous political entities that contested New Zealand general elections from the 1970s until the late 1990s.
On 1 July 2008 the party applied for registration with the Electoral Commission, which would allow it to contest the party vote. The party was registered by the Electoral Commission on 29 July 2008. On 31 July 2008 the party applied to register a logo with the Electoral Commission.
The party states that it managed to secure its required 500 members for Electoral Act registration after locating the requisite number of inebriated university students outside a student drinking establishment.
For the 2008 general election, the party chose not to apply for the $10,000 in advertising money that all political parties are entitled to. It felt this was a waste of taxpayer's money, and self-funded its advertising. This also meant that it did not qualify for a TVNZ Political Party Opening Address.
It stood on a "no policies, no promises, no disappointment" platform and had the slogan "We're putting the party back in political party". It is understood New Zealand First Party Leader Winston Peters took exception to one of its election signs, which used the phrase "C'mon, you voted Winston in".
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