I love satirical political parties – were I not able to vote for my normal party in an election, I’d be tempted to vote for the Rhinoceros Party, whose platform supports repealing the law of gravity and supporting higher education by building taller schools. They’re an officially registered party here in Canada, and have been fielding candidates since the 70s. We’re not the only country with a party like that – I was delighted to learn about New Zealand’s McGillicuddy Serious Party:

Sadly the McGillicuddy Serious Party is now defunct, but it ran in elections in the 80s and 90s on different levels of government. It’s based on a faux-Stuart pretender, who initially challenged the military to trial by combat with a pillow fight – if the McGillicuddy forces won, he’d get to replace the Queen as head of state. A McGillicuddy candidate did successfully challenge a Green Party candidate to a paper sword fight – a draw, both sides treated for paper cuts.

Some of their best campaign promises over the years:

• Free dung.
• Sending out intelligence agents around the world to wipe New Zealand off published maps, thus ensuring that no-one could invade the country.
• Restricting the vote to only minors.
• Raising the school-leaving age to 65.
• Standing a dog for parliament – her policies included the abolition of cars, and turning a meat-works into an organic flea-powder factory.
• Good weather (but only if voters behaved).