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65-658: The New Zealand Social Credit Party (sometimes called " Socred ") was a political party that was New Zealand's third party from the 1950s to the 1980s. It won representation in the New Zealand House of Representatives , holding one seat at times between 1966 and 1981, and two seats from 1981 to 1987. While Social Credit once had significant support, particularly as a protest vote , it was disadvantaged by first-past-the-post voting as it had no geographically concentrated vote. Its most identifiable leaders were Vernon Cracknell (1963-70), who served just one term in parliament, and

130-416: A coalition government, there is not a sharp distinction with a 'major' party. In two-party systems, on the other hand, only the major parties have a serious chance of forming a government. Similarly, in presidential systems, third-party candidates are rarely elected president. In some categorizations, a party needs to have a certain level of success to be considered a third party. Smaller parties that win only

195-535: A dozen newly established political parties which participated in elections won just two seats or less in the House of Representatives . During most of Suharto's presidency, only three political parties participated in elections, but after Suharto's fall minor parties returned to the Indonesian electoral scene. In the 1999 election , for example, out of 48 participating political parties only 20 political parties won any seats at

260-859: A few months before the election. For the election, the National government adopted a "steady as she goes" approach, saying that the country was in good hands and did not need any major policy realignments. The date for the main 1954 elections was 13 November. 1,209,670 people were registered to vote, and turnout was 91.4%. The number of seats being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902. The following new (or reconstituted) electorates were introduced in 1954: Heretaunga , Manukau , Rotorua , Stratford , Waipa and Waitemata . Two candidates, both called John Stewart, came second; in Auckland Central for National and in Eden for Labour. Ten MPs retired at

325-433: A large margin amid the industrial disputes of the 1951 election . The Prime Minister , Sidney Holland , was popular in many sectors of society for his strong line against striking dockworkers and coalminers , while Labour's leader, Walter Nash , had been criticised for his failure to take a firm stand on the issue. Labour was troubled by internal disputes, with Nash subjected to an unsuccessful leadership challenge only

390-459: A leadership contest between Cracknell and another prominent Social Credit member, John O'Brien , ended in disaster, with brawling between supporters of each candidate. The damage done to the party's image was considerable. O'Brien was eventually victorious, but his blunt and confrontational style caused him to lose his position after only a short time in office. He split from Social Credit to found his own New Democratic Party . O'Brien's replacement

455-721: A monetary reform candidate on behalf of the Real Democracy Movement in the Wanganui electorate in 1943, and was later made a life member of the League. Maurice Hayes stood for the Waimate electorate on behalf of the Social Credit Association in the 1951 election , receiving 374 votes and coming third. Social Credit claimed that the first Labour government , which was elected at the 1935 election , pulled New Zealand out of

520-757: A parliamentary chamber. Often minor parties have been so successful in gaining such representation that they are able to hold the balance of power in the particular house of the parliament. Some examples are the Democratic Labor Party (DLP) in the 1960s and early 1970s, the Australian Democrats from the late 1970s until 2004, and more recently the Australian Greens . Minor political parties are commonly referred to as partai gurem in Indonesia. In Indonesia's first democratic election in 1955 , over

585-456: A party vote in an electorate (Mangere). The party fielded thirty electorate candidates and four list only candidates in the 2014 general election but continued to fail to gain any seats in the 51st New Zealand Parliament . During the 2017 general election , the Democrats for Social Credit ran 26 candidates, namely 13 electorate candidates and 13 list only candidates. The party gained 806 votes on

650-585: A seat where Labour could not win". In 1960 P. H. Matthews replaced Owen as leader, before being replaced three years later by Vernon Cracknell , an accountant. It was not until the 1966 election , however, that the party won its first representation in parliament. Cracknell managed to win the Hobson electorate in Northland in 1966, a region that had been a stronghold of the Country Party. Cracknell narrowly defeated

715-482: A very small share of the vote and no seats in the legislature often are termed minor or fringe parties. Third parties usually have little chance of forming a government or winning the position of head of government. Nevertheless, there are many reasons for third parties to compete. The opportunity of a national election means that attention will be paid to the positions of third parties. The larger parties might be forced to respond and adapt to their challenges, and often

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780-512: Is a sometimes heated argument, since "major parties" as defined by Ofcom are entitled to more party political broadcasts than minor ones. Because of the regionalist nature of many parties, it is possible to be a major party in one part of the country and not another: for example, at one point UKIP was officially a major party in England and Wales, but a minor one in Scotland. No mainland British party

845-698: Is classed as a major party in Northern Ireland. A minor party is also a special type of political party registered with the Electoral Commission in Great Britain that is able to contest only parish and community council elections in England and Wales and has fewer reporting, financial and administrative requirements than an ordinary registered political party. In the United States , minor parties are often described as third parties . Minor parties in

910-409: The 1957 election and established a caucus committee to challenge their theories. Gustafson comments that the successes in some seats (Hobson, Rangitikei, East Coast Bays and Pakuranga) came from a "peculiar and infrequent combination of factors", with votes in those seats coming from "a handful of committed monetary reformers plus alienated National voters and the tactical voting of Labour supporters in

975-456: The 1978 by-election in Rangitikei , caused by the death of National Party MP Roy Jack , Beetham managed to defeat National's replacement candidate and win the seat. Beetham was more successful in parliament than Cracknell had been, and gained Social Credit considerable attention. He also put forward a New Zealand Credit and Currency Bill, intended to implement many Social Credit policies. The Bill

1040-577: The 1984 election , Beetham lost his Rangitikei seat to a National Party challenger, Denis Marshall . Knapp retained his East Coast Bays seat, and another Social Credit candidate, Neil Morrison , won Pakuranga . Despite still holding the same number of seats, Social Credit won 7.6% of the total vote in 1984, a substantial drop. Some commentators attributed this to the New Zealand Party , an economically right-wing liberal party that opposed Muldoon's government. The New Zealand Party may have taken some of

1105-542: The Democratic Labour Party . The new party got 4.3% of the vote in the 1943 general election, with both Lee and Barnard losing their seats. The Social Credit Party was established as the Social Credit Political League. It was founded on 10 January 1953, and grew out of the earlier Social Credit Association. The party's first leader was Wilfrid Owen , a businessman. Much of the early activity in

1170-598: The Great Depression by adopting certain Social Credit policies. Several followers of Social Credit policies eventually left the Labour Party, where their proposals (for example, those of John A. Lee for housing) were strongly opposed by the "orthodox" Minister of Finance , Walter Nash and other prominent Labour Party members. In 1940 Lee, who had by then been expelled from the Labour Party, and Bill Barnard formed

1235-494: The Greens and NewLabour . It is believed that changing the name of the party was a historic mistake and a major cause in the subsequent decline of support. Beetham was extremely bitter about the Democrats' change of direction, and led a short-lived splinter group called Social Credit-NZ , using the Social Credit label. It failed to win any seats in 1990 and quickly vanished. The Democrats, finding themselves increasingly pressured by

1300-574: The Lib-Lab pacts and the 2010–2015 coalition with the Conservatives ) and are sometimes also classed as a major party. The nationalist Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru hold a significant number of seats in their Home Nations, with the SNP controlling 56 of 59 Scottish Westminster seats at the 2015 United Kingdom general election , and every single Northern Irish seat is held by a regional party – either

1365-826: The Liberals used to be the largest Third party by popular vote from the 1920s until 2015. In Canada , the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party are the two major parties at the federal level. The Bloc Québécois , New Democratic Party , and Green Party are the largest minor parties, represented in the House of Commons of Canada . Another 12 parties are registered with Elections Canada (see List of federal political parties in Canada#Registered parties ) but have no seats in Parliament. The New Democratic Party has been

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1430-746: The Libertarian and Green Parties. In the United Kingdom, a third party is a national political party, other than the Conservatives and Labour , which has at least one member in the House of Commons . From 1922 to 2015 and again from 2024, the Liberal Democrats and their predecessors the Liberals were the third party. Between 2015 and 2024, it was used for the Scottish National Party . In

1495-531: The National Party 's Logan Sloane , the incumbent, after having placed second in the previous two elections. Cracknell did not prove to be a good performer in parliament itself, however, and did not succeed in advancing the Social Credit manifesto. Partly due to this, and partly due to an exceptionally poor campaign, Cracknell was not re-elected in the 1969 election , returning Sloane to parliament and depriving Social Credit of its only seat. The following year,

1560-441: The first-past-the-post electoral system . The Social Credit name did not vanish immediately, however. In 1986, the year after the party was renamed, Bruce Beetham was removed from the leadership of the Democrats and replaced by Neil Morrison. The Democrats saw their vote slump in 1987 and both its MPs were defeated. By 1990 the party's vote collapsed altogether by which time they had been eclipsed by other third party choices such as

1625-710: The republican Sinn Féin and Social Democratic and Labour Party , or the unionist Ulster Unionist Party and Democratic Unionist Party . As of 2024, the Green Party hold four seats and the Brexit Party , which was the largest British party in the European Parliament before withdrawing due to Brexit, held no seats in the House of Commons. Today The Brexit Party is known as Reform UK and has five seats. Also UKIP has achieved significant vote shares despite holding no seats in

1690-578: The "moderate left" and the "hard left" caused a split in the Alliance, the Democrats followed Jim Anderton's moderate faction and became a part of the Progressive Coalition . In the 2002 election , Grant Gillon and John Wright were placed third and fourth on the party's list. However, the Progressives won only enough votes for two seats, thus leaving the two Democrats outside parliament. Shortly after

1755-578: The 20th century, the social credit movement in New Zealand was accused of indulging in antisemitic conspiracy theories . C. H. Douglas , the founder of the social credit movement, toured New Zealand in 1934 and expounded his view that Jews were involved in a global conspiracy to control finance. His ideas were discussed in the New Zealand Social Credit publication Plain Talk . Social Credit, along with

1820-578: The Alliance won thirteen seats. Among the MPs elected were John Wright and Grant Gillon , both members of the Democratic Party. However, there was considerable dissatisfaction in the Democratic Party over the Alliance's course. Many Democrats believed that their views were not being incorporated into Alliance party policy, particularly as regards the core economic doctrine of social credit. The Alliance tended towards orthodox taxation based left-wing economics and

1885-470: The Commons. Other parties that have held seats in devolved assemblies, the House of Commons or the European Parliament in the 21st century include the non-sectarian Northern Irish Alliance Party , the far right British National Party , the healthcare-focused Independent Community and Health Concern , the cross-community Northern Irish NI21 , the cross-community feminist Northern Ireland Women's Coalition ,

1950-464: The Department of Internal Affairs, published From Europe to New Zealand: An Account of Our Continental European Settlers by Eric Butler and R.A Lochore, which repeated Jewish financial conspiracy claims. In the 1980 East Coast Bays by-election , the Labour Party attempted to discredit Social Credit with a pamphlet that set out Major Douglas’s antisemitic views. The encyclopedia Te Ara states that

2015-546: The Scottish Parliament, the SNP has been the dominant parliamentary party beginning with the 2011 Scottish Parliament election , with the Conservatives the next largest party and Labour becoming Scotland's third party ever since. Reform UK was the largest Third party by popular vote in the 2024 United Kingdom general election . In the 2015 United Kingdom general election UKIP was the largest Third party by popular vote. The Liberal Democrats and their predecessors

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2080-593: The Social Credit Association, an educational organisation. The association focused much of its efforts on the Country Party and New Zealand Labour Party , where it attempted to influence economic policy. The social credit movement decided to set up a "separate political organisation" the Real Democracy Movement in 1942. RDM got about 4,400 votes in the 1943 election . Roly Marks had stood as

2145-556: The Social Credit Party. During that parliamentary term, Social Credit's support was damaged by a deal between Beetham and National Party Prime Minister Robert Muldoon . In exchange for Social Credit support for the Clyde Dam , a controversial construction project and part of Think Big , Muldoon undertook to back certain Social Credit proposals. This did considerable harm to Social Credit's popularity, as Muldoon's government (and

2210-512: The Social Credit name in 2018. The Social Credit Party and its logo were deregistered at the party's request on 28 February 2023, following the death of its leader Chris Leitch earlier that year. The party was based on the ideas of social credit , an economic theory established by C. H. Douglas . Social credit movements also existed in Australia ( Douglas Credit Party and Australian League of Rights ), Canada ( Social Credit Party of Canada ), and

2275-642: The U.S. include the Libertarian Party , the Green Party , Constitution Party , and others that have less influence than the major parties. Since the American Civil War (1861–1865), the major parties have been the Republican Party and the Democratic Party . Since 1860, six presidential candidates other than Republicans and Democrats have received over 10% of the popular vote, although one of them

2340-408: The United Kingdom ( UK Social Credit Party ) although the relationship between those movements and the New Zealand movement was not always amicable. The party was also intermittently damaged from allegations of antisemitism , stemming from Douglas' own racist views. Beetham formally denounced antisemitism upon his election. The Social Credit Political League was formed in 1953 out of the membership of

2405-400: The anti-austerity People Before Profit Alliance , the left-wing Northern Irish unionist Progressive Unionist Party , the left wing Respect Party , the left wing nationalist Scottish Socialist Party , the elderly interest Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party and the unionist Northern Irish Traditional Unionist Voice and UK Unionist Party . Whether or not a party counts as a major party

2470-547: The antisemitism of Social Credit ended in the 1970s with the election of leader Bruce Beetham who was more liberal. In the late 1970s the party became concerned about infiltration by the anti-semitic League of Rights and ejected members with racist views. Professor Paul Spooney stated that antisemitic sentiment was "largely irrelevant" by the 1970s, but remained present until 1984 when Beetham ejected party members who believed in an international financial Jewish conspiracy. Third party (politics) A minor party that follows

2535-515: The direction/directive of some other major parties is called a bloc party or satellite party. Minor parties in Australia owe much of their success to the proportional representation method of voting for the Australian Senate and one chamber of the legislatures of most states . This allows minor parties to achieve at least one quota in the electorate or state and thus gain representation in

2600-440: The election, see cartoon. Paddy Kearins also left parliament at the election. His electorate of Waimarino was abolished and he failed to gain selection to stand for Labour in the replacement electorate of Rotorua . Two Labour MPs had announced their intention to retire at the 1954 election ( Harry Combs MP for Onslow and Arthur Osborne MP for Onehunga ) but died before the end of the parliament. The 1954 election saw

2665-557: The election, the Democrats split from the Progressives, re-establishing themselves as an independent party. However, Gillon and Wright, both of whom opposed the split, chose not to follow the Democrats, instead remaining with the Progressives. The Progressive Coalition became the Progressive Party after the Democrats left. The Democrats chose Stephnie de Ruyter , who had been fifth on the Progressive list, as their new leader. In 2005,

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2730-465: The governing National Party re-elected with a ten-seat margin, a drop from the twenty-seat margin it previously held. National won forty-five seats to the Labour Party 's thirty-five. The popular vote was much closer, however, with the two parties separated by only 0.2% (1,602 votes). No seats were won by minor party candidates or by independents, but the new Social Credit Party managed to win 11.2% of

2795-483: The growth of NewLabour (founded by rebel Labour Party MP Jim Anderton ) and the Greens , decided to increase cooperation with compatible parties. This resulted in the Democrats joining NewLabour, the Greens and Māori -based party Mana Motuhake in forming the Alliance, a broad left-wing coalition group. In the 1996 election , which was conducted under the new mixed-member proportional representation electoral system,

2860-529: The household name Bruce Beetham , who rebuilt the party into a significant political force. At its zenith under Beetham in 1981, Social Credit achieved an unprecedented 20.7% of the vote. The party held no seats in its own right after 1987 and subsequently declined. It was named the New Zealand Democratic Party from 1985 to 2018, and was part of the Alliance from 1991 to 2002. The party returned to

2925-608: The intent, literally stated, is "the third and succeeding parties". The term "third parties" is used mostly in countries with first-past-the-post voting systems, as those systems tend to create a two-party system , so that successful smaller parties are rare. Countries using proportional representation give little advantage to the two largest parties, so they tend to elect many parties. Therefore, in those countries, three, four, or more political parties are usually elected to legislatures. In such parliamentary systems, coalitions often include smaller parties; since they may participate in

2990-718: The larger parties copy ideas from them. Most third parties try to build their support to become one of the dominant parties, as the Labour Party in Britain and New Democratic Party in Canada did. In the Westminster system there is also the possibility of minority governments , which can give smaller parties strength disproportional to their support. Examples include the Irish Parliamentary Party which pushed for Home Rule in Ireland in

3055-529: The largest Third party by popular vote in most federal elections since 1962. Unlike the parties in many nations, Canadian parties at the federal level are often only loosely connected with parties at the provincial level. Some parties operate only at the provincial level, for example BC United in British Columbia . 1954 New Zealand general election Sidney Holland National Sidney Holland National The 1954 New Zealand general election

3120-482: The late 19th century. Challenging parties also usually appeal for votes on the basis that they will try to change the voting system to make it more competitive for all parties. In some countries like the United States, parties with low win probability face frequent exclusion from major debates and media coverage and denial of ballot access as well as hamstrung campaign budgets. The Democratic Labor Party (DLP)

3185-440: The national level. Since the 2009 election , a parliamentary threshold has been implemented in Indonesian elections, reducing the number of parties represented in the national parliament to ten or less. The use of first past the post in the United Kingdom means that in the post-War era, only two parties have had a majority in parliament: the Conservative Party and the Labour Party . However, strong regionalist movements and

3250-451: The party held two seats in parliament (one was East Coast Bays, held by Garry Knapp ; and the other was Pakuranga, held by Neil Morrison ). The Democratic Party lost both those seats, removing them from parliament. In 1988, Knapp and a group of other Democrats were involved in a protest at parliament to highlight the Labour government's abandonment on its election promise to hold a referendum on

3315-408: The party involved formulating policy and promoting social credit theories to the public. Social Credit gained support quickly, and in the 1954 elections , the party won 11.13% of the vote. The party failed to win seats in parliament under the first past the post electoral system . The party's quick rise did, however, prompt discussion of the party's policies. National saw Social Credit as a threat in

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3380-498: The party organisation according to party president Gloria Bruni. The party requested deregistration due to membership having dipped below 500 but will still remain active despite being deregistered and being unable to submit a party list at the 2023 general election . Bruni stated that the party intends to rebrand to avoid comparison with the controversial social credit system used by the Chinese Communist Party . During

3445-428: The party re-added "for Social Credit" to its name to supplement its party name. The Democrats contested that year's general election as an independent party and received 0.05% of the party vote. In the 2008 general election , the party again won 0.05% of the party vote. The party did not apply for broadcasting funding for the 2011 election . During the election, it won 1,432 votes and was the only party to not attract

3510-523: The party vote (0.0%) and failed to win any seats in Parliament. In June 2018, the party voted to change its name back to Social Credit after Chris Leitch was elected leader. During the 2020 general election , Social Credit won no seats, obtaining 1,520 votes (0.05%). In 2021 the party opposed COVID-19 vaccine mandates . The party's registration was cancelled at its own request on 28 February 2023. Leitch died in January 2023 which left "a really big hole" in

3575-687: The potential for parties to take votes in the centre or extreme fringes of the political spectrum mean that minor parties still play a significant and increasing role in British politics. The Liberal Democrats , and their predecessors the SDP–Liberal Alliance and the Liberal Party (the main opposition to the Conservative Party before the rise of Labour, forming governments six times between 1859 and 1918) have achieved significant numbers of seats and have occasionally been kingmakers (such as during

3640-472: The project itself) were opposed by most Social Credit members. To make matters worse, Muldoon did not deliver on many of his pledges, depriving Social Credit of any significant victories with which to mitigate its earlier setback. In 1983, Beetham suffered a minor heart attack, causing him to lose some of his earlier energy. He also became, according to many Social Credit supporters, more demanding and intolerant. This reduced Social Credit's appeal to voters. In

3705-483: The protest votes that Social Credit once received. It was from this election that the term " Crimplene Suit and Skoda Brigade" was coined for Social Credit (by defeated National Party Pakuranga MP Pat Hunt ). At the party's 1985 conference, the Social Credit name was dropped, and group became the New Zealand Democratic Party (Beetham had earlier argued for a simpler name in 1982). At the 1987 election ,

3770-464: Was Bruce Beetham , who would become the most well known Social Credit leader. Beetham took over in time for the 1972 election . Despite a relatively strong showing, Social Credit failed to win any seats, a fact that some blamed on the rise of the new Values Party . While the Values Party did not win any seats, many supporters of Social Credit believed that it drew voters away from the older party. In

3835-418: Was a former president, Theodore Roosevelt . In electoral politics, a third party is any party contending for votes that failed to outpoll either of its two strongest rivals (or, in the context of an impending election, is considered highly unlikely to do so). The distinction is particularly significant in two-party systems . In any case "third" is often used figuratively, as in "the third parties", where

3900-496: Was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament 's 31st term . It saw the governing National Party remain in office, but with a slightly reduced majority. It also saw the debut of the new Social Credit Party , which won more than eleven percent of the vote but failed to win a seat. The National Party had formed its first administration after the 1949 elections . It had then been re-elected by

3965-422: Was criticised by some of the more extreme Social Credit supporters, who claimed that it was too weak, but was nevertheless strongly promoted in parliament by Beetham. The Bill quickly failed, although this was not particularly unexpected – it had been put forward primarily for the purpose of drawing attention, not because Beetham believed it would succeed. Beetham retained his seat in the 1978 general election . He

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4030-497: Was later joined by Gary Knapp , who defeated free-market National Party candidate Don Brash in the 1980 by-election in East Coast Bays (caused by the resignation of the sitting National MP). Knapp, like Beetham, was highly active in parliament. Led by Beetham and Knapp, Social Credit became a popular alternative to the two major parties. Political scientists debate how much of this was due to Social Credit policies and how much

4095-481: Was merely a "protest vote" against the established parties, but one poll recorded Social Credit with as much as 30% of the vote. By the 1981 election , the party's support had subsided somewhat, and Social Credit gained 20.55% of the vote. As expected, the electoral system did not translate this into seats in parliament, but Social Credit did retain the two seats it already held. A year later, it officially dropped "Political League" from its official name, becoming merely

4160-466: Was not prepared to implement the Democratic Party's somewhat unusual economic theories. By the 1999 election , the Democrats were one of two remaining component parties in the Alliance as the Greens had left the grouping and the Liberals and NewLabour components dissolved, their members becoming members of the Alliance as a whole rather than of any specific constituent party. In 2002, when tensions between

4225-417: Was the largest Third party by popular vote in federal elections from 1955 until 1977. The Australian Democrats was the largest Third party by popular vote in federal elections from 1977 until 2004. Since 2004, the Australian Greens have been largest Third party by popular vote in federal elections. In the United States, there have been numerous "third parties". The largest since the mid-20th century are

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