27 Aug 2014

15 parties to contest election

6:29 pm on 27 August 2014

Fifteen political parties have filed lists to compete for the party vote at this year's election on 20 September.

The National, Labour, Green, New Zealand First, Maori and United Future Parties are all hoping to be returned to Parliament.

Other parties to file lists include the ACT Party, the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party, The Ban 1080 Party, the Conservative Party, the Democrats for Social Credit Party, the Focus New Zealand Party, the Internet Mana alliance, the New Zealand Independent Coalition and the Civilian Party.

Thirteen parties contested the general election in 2011.

A total of 554 candidates (electorate and list) are standing this year. This compares with 544 candidates in the 2011 election.

The electorates with the most candidates are Epsom and Tauranga with 11, while the electorate with the lowest number of candidates is Hauraki-Waikato with three.