The People's Choice Party (also Peoples Choice Party or PCP) was a New Zealand political party. It was a registered party from 1999 to 2002, and its members have contested mayoral, local, and national elections since 1998.
History
The People's Choice Party was formed in 1999 by Rusty Kane and Doug Wilson. which required at least 500 paid members. The party contested the 1999 general election to show opposition to the MMP voting system and received 387 party votes and a total of 154 electorate votes in two electorates. He also ran for Bay of Plenty Regional Council in 2016. He has frequently stood for electorates and local councils for areas he does not live and has been described as a "serial campaigner" Kane has run sometimes under the People's Choice banner and sometimes as an independent; he also joined the Conservative Party but left in 2012 citing its 'anti-gay stance'.
Kane has described the party as a "ginger group, set up to advocate a political voice on behalf of small groups and individuals". Kane has stated that the party seeks to highlight issues, not to win seats. to support the binding of Citizens Initiated Referenda.
Other uses of the name
In 2016, The People's Choice began to contest local body elections and won three counselor seats on the Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury). However, the group's website does not mention Kane, Wilson, or a history of past action and the group appears unconnected to Kane's party.