Alliance (New Zealand political party)

Alliance
Party logo, 2008
Founder	Jim Anderton
Founded	1 December 1991
Dissolved	26 May 2015; 9 years ago (2015-05-26)
Youth wing	Staunch Alliance
Ideology	Democratic socialism[1][2] Social democracy Green politics
Political position	Left-wing
Members	Democratic Party Green Party Mana Motuhake NewLabour Party Liberal Party
Colours	Green   Red
Politics of New Zealand Political parties Elections

The Alliance was a left-wing political party in New Zealand. It was formed at the end of 1991 by the linking of four smaller parties. The Alliance positioned itself as a democratic socialist alternative to the centre-left New Zealand Labour Party. It was influential throughout the 1990s, but suffered a major setback after its founder and leader, Jim Anderton, left the party in 2002, taking with him several of its members of parliament (MPs). After the remaining MPs lost their seats in the 2002 general election, some commentators predicted the demise of the party.

The Alliance stood candidates in the 2005 general election but won less than 1% of the party vote. It contested Auckland City Council elections under the City Vision banner, in concert with the New Zealand Labour Party and Green Party. The Alliance ran 15 electorate candidates and a total of 30 candidates on the party list in the 2008 general election, increasing its party vote marginally from that in 2005. It was deregistered (can no longer contest for the party vote) at its own request on 26 May 2015.^[3][4]