New Zealand People's Party
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New Zealand People's Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Anil Sharma |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Ideology | Minority rights Cultural rights |
| House of Representatives | 0 / 120 |
| Website | |
The New Zealand People's Party was a political party in New Zealand. The party was established in 2015[1] and had a particular focus on the rights of immigrants.[2][3] It operated as an independent party for a 2016 by-election and the 2017 general election, and as a component party of Advance New Zealand for the 2020 election.[4] The party's leader, as of September 2020, was Anil Sharma.[5]
Standalone party
The New Zealand People's Party was established in 2015.[1] It was initially led by Roshan Nauhria, who was a co-founder.[6]
Nauhria stood as a candidate in the 2016 Mount Roskill by-election,[7] winning 709 votes or 4.2% and coming third.[8] The People's Party also contested the 2017 Mount Albert by-election, with Vin Tomar, an early childhood teacher and real estate agent, as their candidate.[9] Tomar received 191 votes, or 1.5% of the votes cast, coming fourth.
In 2016, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters called the party a 'National Party front'.[10]
On 20 May 2017 the party applied for registration with the Electoral Commission[11] and was registered by the Electoral Commission on 20 June 2017.[12] It ran six list candidates.[13] At the 2017 general election, the party gained only 0.1% of the party vote (1,890 votes) and won no seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives.[14]
The party was deregistered by the Electoral Commission, at the party's request, on 30 April 2019.[15]
Component party of Advance New Zealand
The leader of the Advance New Zealand party, Jami-Lee Ross, appeared in a Facebook video of 29 July 2020 and stated that the New Zealand People's Party would be joining with Advance.[16] The Electoral Commission confirmed that the People's Party was a component party of Advance on 18 August.[4] Advance New Zealand received only 1.0% of the party vote in the 2020 general election,[17] not enough to enter Parliament, so no candidates from the People's Party were elected.
Current status
By December 2020, the People's Party was no longer recorded as a component party of Advance.[18]
People's Party founder, Roshan Nauhria, said he would financially back Gaurav Sharma in the 2022 Hamilton West by-election, saying, "I will support him financially, 100 percent. Wholeheartedly… [it] doesn't matter the money, whatever he needs".[19] Gaurav Sharma lost that election, coming fourth.[20]
The People's Party did not field any candidates for the 2023 general election.[21]