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The Party of the Future was founded in the Netherlands in 2002 by media personality and entrepreneur Johan Vlemmix. The party's ideas included women's right to go topless, and changes to drug policy. The party dissolved in 2020.
The Party for Labour, Rule of Law, Animal Protection, Promotion of Elites and Grassroots Democratic Initiative, aka The PARTY (Die PARTEI), was founded in Germany in 2004 by Martin Sonneborn, editor-in-chief of satirical magazine Titanic.
The PARTY first won a seat in the 2014 European Parliament election, and then in 2019 they gained another seat. This made them the first satirical party to ever win seats in the European Parliament. Die PARTEI is still active to this day.
The Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party was founded in 2006, but it was not officially registered as a political party until 2014. The party's main activity is political satire through the use of street art (including posters, graffiti, etc.).
In the 2018 parliamentary elections, the party's parliamentary candidates appeared on ballots dressed up as a chicken, a gorilla, the invisible man, and Santa Claus.
The Anarchistische Pogo-Partei Deutschlands was founded in Germany in 1981. The APPD claims to be the party of the Pöbel (mob) and social outcasts. Some of the ideas in their manifesto include a youth pension instead of a retirement pension, and the abolishment of compulsory education, among others.
Despite the satirical nature of the party, some of their proposals have actually become law in the UK. These included the introduction of pet passports, the abolition of dog licenses, legislation of commercial radio, and extended pub opening hours.
Their policy proposals have included banning plastic bottles (and using glass instead), preventing "identity theft instantly by calling everyone Chris," the use of silent fireworks to not upset sensitive people and pets, and converting red telephone boxes into accommodation, among many others.
Chancellor candidate Wolfgang Wendland, who's the front man of the punk rock band Die Kassierer, took part in the 2005 German federal election. As of today, the Anarchist Pogo Party of Germany is still active.
The Official Monster Raving Loony Party was founded in England in 1982 by musician Screaming Lord Sutch (pictured, right) and Howling Laud Hope (aka Alan Hope), who is the current party leader.
The New Millennium Bean Party is a one-man party. It was founded by Welsh charity fundraiser Captain Beany.
While Captain Beany hasn't quite yet been elected, he did manage to raise around £100,000 (over US$125,000) for charity during the last two decades.
The Deadly Serious Party was formed in Australia in 1984. One of their bizarre policies was to place penguins along Australia's coastline to protect the country from an Argentine invasion. The party deregistered in 1988 because it ceased to have at least 500 members.
Source: (Listverse) (Ranker) (Los Angeles Times) (The Mirror) (NPR)
See also: These celebrities all became politicians
The mysterious disappearance of Freemason William Morgan (pictured), who spoke out against the Freemasons, led to the creation of a party against Freemasonry in the United States.
The Free Soil Party motto was "Free soil, free speech, free labor, and free men." The party wanted the government to abolish slavery across the country. The Free Soil Party dissolved in 1854.
The Anti-Masonic Party was formed in 1828 by men such as newspaper editor Thurlow Weed. Their goal was to remove all Freemasons from public office. They first dissolved in 1840, only to return in 1872. The party finally called it quits for good in 1888.
The abolitionist coalition party was created on August 9, 1848, in Buffalo, New York. The party merged together the Barnburner Democrats, the Conscience Whigs, and the Liberty Party.
Their manifesto includes ideas such as replacing Vienna's Hochstrahlbrunnen with a beer fountain, compulsory aptitude tests for politicians, and allowing outdoor dining in winter, among others.
There are a few beer parties around the world. The PBLP in particular was founded in 1990 with the aim of promoting beer drinking. The idea was that by swapping vodka for beer, they'd fight alcoholism. The party dissolved in 1993.
As for the philosophy itself, Rand described it as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute"
The party ideals focus on the individual, championing personal freedom and minimal government interference.
Founded in 1967, the party championed free speech, civil rights, cared for environmental issues, and was anti-war. There was also a push for the decriminalization of marijuana.
"I needed a name to signify the radicalization of hippies, and I came up with Yippie as a label for a phenomenon that already existed, an organic coalition of psychedelic hippies and political activists. In the process of cross-fertilization at anti-war demonstrations, we had come to share an awareness that there was a linear connection between putting kids in prison for smoking pot in this country and burning them to death with napalm on the other side of the planet," said one of the party founders, Paul Krassner.
The Youth International Party (YIP), aka the Yippies, was born from the American youth counterculture of the late 1960s.
The Objectivist Party was born from the objectivist movement of the 1950s. The party was formed in 2008 by lawyer and politician Tom Stevens. Objectivism is a philosophical system developed by Russian-American philosopher and writer Ayn Rand.
Led by former Confederate general William Mahone, the party brought together Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.
The Readjuster Party was founded in the United States in 1879. The goal was to rebuild and recover the Old Dominion (aka Virginia) to its former pre-Civil War glory.
The party aimed to lower taxes and boost school funding. The Readjuster Party was also biracial, so it attracted both white Americans and African-American supporters. The party officially dissolved in 1895.
In 2014, the European Pirate Party (PPEU) was founded. The PPEU brings together Pirate parties from across Europe.
The party has since spread to other countries across the globe (Germany pictured). The end to government surveillance is one of the issues supported by the party and its followers.
The Pirate Party was originally founded in Sweden in the early 2000s. Emerging in the age of the internet, the party was all for digital rights and freedom, copyright reform, and privacy protection.
The Beer Party was founded in 2014 by the front man of punk rock band Turbobier, Marco Pogo.
Politics is serious business... or is it? Thousands of political parties have been founded over the years, but not all have found success. Some of these were indeed very different from the norm, but while many were formed as a joke with the aim of political satire, others were pretty legitimate in their ideas (even if a bit whacky).
In this gallery, we bring you some of the craziest political parties to have ever been formed, some of which are still active to this day. Click on to get to know them.
Political parties you won't believe are real
Some of these have really bizarre manifestos
LIFESTYLE Politics
Politics is serious business... or is it? Thousands of political parties have been founded over the years, but not all have found success. Some of these were indeed very different from the norm, but while many were formed as a joke with the aim of political satire, others were pretty legitimate in their ideas (even if a bit whacky).
In this gallery, we bring you some of the craziest political parties to have ever been formed, some of which are still active to this day. Click on to get to know them.