South Island Party - Definition

The South Island Party was a New Zealand regionalist political party, advocating greater representational say for the South Island. Its aims were along the lines of those of the Scottish Nationalist Party in Scotland, steering clear of any call for independence, but rather demanding a regional assembly to handle issues relating directly to the South Island.

The party was based in the Otago region, and led by Dunedin publican Pat Carrigan and trade unionist Allan McDonald. Poor organisation did not allow for its message to spread far outside the region. In the 1999 elections, the party put forward only five electorate candidates (with none in Canterbury) and seven list candidates.

The party won no seats in 1999, with just 0.14% of the vote across the whole country. Its highest percentage of the party vote in any seat was 1.5%, although one of their candidates received over 800 votes (2.6% of the votes cast in that electorate).

The party's registration was cancelled at its own request on 14 June 2002, and it did not contest the 2002 elections.