Labour Party in Northern Ireland

Political party in Northern Ireland

Not to be confused with Labour Party of Northern Ireland or Northern Ireland Labour Party.

Labour Party in Northern Ireland

President| N/A
Chairman| Erskine Holmes
Secretary| Boyd Black
Vice Chair| Joan Martin
Founded| c. 2003
Youth wing| Young Labour in Northern Ireland
Membership (2017)| 2,000[1][needs update]
Ideology| Social democracy
British unionism
Political position| Centre-left
National affiliation| Labour Party
European affiliation| Party of European Socialists
International affiliation| Progressive Alliance
Socialist International (observer)
Colours|  Red
House of Commons
(NI Seats)|

0 / 18

House of Lords|

1 / 783

NI Assembly|

0 / 90

Local Government|

0 / 462

Website
labourpartyni.org

* Politics of Northern Ireland
* Political parties
* Elections

The Labour Party in Northern Ireland (LPNI) is the UK Labour Party's regional constituency organisation that operates in Northern Ireland. The Labour Party is not a registered political party in Northern Ireland and does not currently contest elections.[2][3]

In the 2016 Assembly elections, eight members of the party ran for election under the name of the Northern Ireland Labour Representation Committee, as the Labour Party National Executive Committee had refused to allow candidates to stand as official Labour Party candidates.[4]

## History

[edit]

For many years the UK Labour Party held to a policy of not allowing residents of Northern Ireland to apply for membership,[5] instead recognising the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) as its sister party in Northern Ireland,[6] which had informally taken the Labour whip in the House of Commons.[7]

The 2003 Labour Party Conference accepted legal advice that the party could not continue to prohibit residents of the province joining,[8] and whilst the National Executive Committee has established a regional constituency party it has not yet agreed to contest elections there.

While the party has not officially contested elections in Northern Ireland, a Labour government in Westminster has administered the Northern Ireland Executive during periods of suspension and direct rule.

### House of Lords

[edit]

Margaret Ritchie, Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick sits in the House of Lords as a member of the Labour Party.[9]

### Labour Representation Committee

[edit]

In December 2015, the LPNI's executive committee voted to contest elections in Northern Ireland.[10] In the run-up to the 2016 Assembly elections, local members registered a new party, the Northern Ireland Labour Representation Committee, with the Electoral Commission recognising them in April 2016. The party's constitution has a clause stating that it will disband once Labour lifts the ban on contesting elections in Northern Ireland. The new party's leader is journalist and author Kathryn Johnston. Several former members of the Northern Ireland Labour Party hold membership, including Erskine Holmes and Douglas McIldoon.[4] Eight candidates ran under the label,[4] despite the Labour Party warning Northern Irish Labour party members that they could face expulsion from the party for standing as candidates, as Labour party members who support a political organisation outside the Labour group can be expelled.[11] Johnston highlighted policy differences with the SDLP, including Labour's position on abortion, same-sex marriage and support for an integrated and secular education system.[4] The move to stand in elections was assisted by former Labour MP Andrew MacKinlay.[12] They stood one candidate each in eight of the eighteen constituencies in the 2016 Assembly elections. They won no seats, with candidates obtaining between 0.2% and 0.7% of the first-preference votes. After the 2016 assembly election, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had publicly stated that he would consider candidates for the next election, stating, "There is a democratic deficit in one sense. There is a question of a relationship with other parties in Northern Ireland as well and how that will be affected."[13]

In the 2016 UK leadership election, 765 Labour party members in Northern Ireland took part in the vote, with a majority voting for Corbyn (Corbyn 541; Owen Smith 224).[14]

The LPNI did not stand in the 2017 Assembly elections. However, LPNI member Donal O'Cofaigh was expelled from the party for standing on the Cross-Community Labour Alternative party list.[15] In May 2017, a member of the executive of the Labour Party in Northern Ireland wrote to the Labour Party threatening legal action should the party continue to refuse to allow LPNI members to stand for election in Northern Ireland.[16] The following year, delegates from the Northern Ireland party attended the 2017 national conference to bring their arguments to other delegates at fringe events.[17] In August 2017, several officers in the LPNI structure, including chair Anna McAleavy, vice chair Damien Harris and secretary Kathryn Johnston – the last of whom contested the 2016 assembly election – resigned in an internal struggle inside the party leading up to the National Executive Committee assessing LPNI's case for structuring as a full part of the Labour Party (like Welsh Labour or Scottish Labour).[18]

In May 2018, Corbyn made his first visit to Northern Ireland as leader of the Labour Party.[19] In this two-day visit, he visited Derry and the border areas and finished with a speech at Queen's University in Belfast. His speech focused on restoring devolved government – after it had been in a political deadlock since the 2017 assembly election – and mitigating disruption to Northern Ireland caused by Brexit.[20] His speech was 'broadly well received';[21] however, there was some upset caused within the regional Labour Party, as he did not visit any of the branches or executive committee in this time.[19] At a fringe event during the 2018 Labour party conference in Liverpool, the Unite union leader Len McCluskey said his union would back Labour Party standing candidates in Northern Ireland if that was decided. Colum Eastwood, leader of the SDLP, was notably not at the conference that year when the leader of the party usually attends.[21]

Despite this, Labour chose not to run candidates at the 2019 election, instead endorsing the Social Democratic and Labour Party again. In a statement to the Belfast Telegraph former Labour MP Kate Hoey called this decision "disappointing".[22]

## Structure

[edit]

As of September 2017 it was recorded that 37,000 Northern Irish trade union members had opted-in to pay the political levy their trade union offers which largely goes to the Labour Party. Additionally the party in the area had over 2,000 members and 1,000 registered supporters.[1][21]

## NILRC electoral results

[edit]

### 2016 Assembly elections

[edit]

Party  | Leader  | Seats  | Votes

|
|
|

Candidates  | won  | Change
from
2011  | First
preference
votes  | First
pref. %  | Change
from
2011

| NI Labour | Kathryn Johnston  | 8  | \-  |  | 1,577 [23] | 0.2%  | N/A
Constituency | Candidate | First
pref. votes | First
pref. %

|
|
|

North Antrim | Kathryn Johnston  | 243  | 0.6%
Belfast North | Abdo Thabeth  | 127  | 0.3%
Belfast South | Brigitte Anton  | 246  | 0.7%
North Down | Maria Lourenco  | 177  | 0.5%
Lagan Valley | Peter Dynes  | 171  | 0.4%
Upper Bann | Emma Hutchinson  | 250  | 0.5%
Fermanagh and South Tyrone | Damien Harris  | 285  | 0.6%

## Notes

[edit]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Black, Boyd (8 September 2017). "Northern Ireland needs the chance to vote Labour". The Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
2. ^ Clarke, Liam (5 March 2014). "Ed Miliband's refusal to fight elections in Northern Ireland slammed by Labour members". The Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
3. ^ Labour List website, Labour Party in Northern Ireland urges UK party to allow it to stand candidates, article by Katie Neame dated 19 July 2022
4. ^ a b c d "Labour rebels defy party to set up new Northern Ireland party". newsletter.co.uk. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
5. ^ Labour Party membership form at the Wayback Machine (archive index), ca. 1999. Retrieved 31 March 2007. "Residents of Northern Ireland are not eligible for membership."
6. ^ "It's Time for Labour to Disassociate from the SDLP". New Socialist. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
7. ^ Understanding Ulster by Antony Alcock, Ulster Society Publications, 1997. Chapter II: The Unloved, Unwanted Garrison. Via Conflict Archive on the Internet. Retrieved 31 October 2008.
8. ^ "Labour NI ban overturned". BBC News. 1 October 2003. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
9. ^ UK Parliament website, MPs and Lords section, Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick, retrieved 19 September 2024
10. ^ "LPNI prepare to fight elections". Archived from the original on 14 January 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
11. ^ Walker, Stephen (27 April 2016). "NI Labour candidates warned not to stand in assembly election". BBC News. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
12. ^ Fealty, Mick (13 April 2016). "Welcome to the Northern Ireland Labour Representation Committee party?". Slugger O'Toole. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
13. ^ Stephen Walker (26 September 2016). "Jeremy Corbyn: Labour will 'consider candidates in Northern Ireland'". BBC News. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
14. ^ Edwards, Peter (19 October 2016). "Leadership election: How Corbyn won across the UK - including in Wales". LabourList.
15. ^ Jayne McCormack (20 February 2017). "Labour Party expels NI member for standing in election on different ticket". BBC News. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
16. ^ "Legal threat against Labour over NI candidate ban". BBC News. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
17. ^ Ward, Andrew (4 October 2017). "'Healthy' conference talks must be followed by Labour ending undemocratic electoral ban in NI". Belfast Telegraph. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
18. ^ Black, Rebecca (7 August 2017). "NI Labour Party in crisis after resignation of leading officers". Belfast Telegraph. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
19. ^ a b Jayne McCormack (21 May 2018). "Labour NI left hanging over Jeremy Corbyn's visit". BBC News. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
20. ^ Patrick Maguire (24 May 2018). "Labour is looking to the future in Northern Ireland – but can they escape Corbyn's past?". New Statesman. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
21. ^ a b c Patrick Maguire (23 September 2018). "Will Labour run in Northern Ireland?". New Statesman. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
22. ^ "Labour not running candidates in NI elections is disappointing: Hoey". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
23. ^ BBC website, NI Election 2016: Results

* v
* t
* e

Political parties in Northern Ireland

MLAs in the Northern Ireland Assembly (90)|

| Unionist (37)|

* Democratic Unionist Party (25)
* Ulster Unionist Party (9)
* Traditional Unionist Voice (1)
* Independent (2)

|

Nationalist (35)|

* Sinn Féin (27)
* Social Democratic and Labour Party (8)

Other (18)|

* Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (17)
* People Before Profit (1)

MPs in the House of Commons (18 of 650)|

* Sinn Féin† (7)
* Democratic Unionist Party (5)
* Social Democratic and Labour Party (2)
* Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (1)
* Traditional Unionist Voice (1)
* Ulster Unionist Party (1)
* Independent (1)

Councillors in local
unitary authorities (462)|

* Sinn Féin (144)
* Democratic Unionist Party (122)
* Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (67)
* Ulster Unionist Party (54)
* Social Democratic and Labour Party (39)
* Independent (19)
* Traditional Unionist Voice (9)
* Green Party Northern Ireland (5)
* People Before Profit (2)
* Progressive Unionist Party (1)

†Sinn Féin have elected members and offices at Westminster, but as abstentionists do not take their seats.

* Politics of Northern Ireland
* Elections in Northern Ireland
* List of political parties by country

* v
* t
* e

Labour Party

History

| Main|

* History of the Labour Party

|

Topics|

* Electoral history
* General election manifestos
* History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom
* European Parliamentary Labour Party
* Scottish Labour Party (1888)
* Independent Labour Party
* Labour Representation Committee
* Gladstone–MacDonald pact
* National Labour Organisation
* Labour Independent Group
* Campaign for Democratic Socialism
* Lib–Lab pact
* Formation of SDP
* Gang of Four
* Limehouse Declaration
* Militant tendency
* The longest suicide note in history
* Labour Listens
* One more heave
* New Labour
* Tony's Cronies
* Blue Labour
* One Nation Labour
* Chakrabarti Inquiry

Leadership

| Leaders|

* Hardie
* Henderson
* Barnes
* MacDonald
* Henderson
* Adamson
* Clynes
* MacDonald
* Henderson
* Lansbury
* Attlee
* Morrison^
* Gaitskell
* Brown^
* Wilson
* Callaghan
* Foot
* Kinnock
* Smith
* Beckett^
* Blair
* Brown
* Harman^
* Miliband
* Harman^
* Corbyn
* Starmer

|

Deputy Leaders|

* Clynes
* Graham
* Attlee
* Greenwood
* Morrison
* Griffiths
* Bevan
* Brown
* Jenkins
* Short
* Foot
* Healey
* Hattersley
* Beckett
* Prescott
* Harman
* Watson
* Rayner

General Secretaries|

* MacDonald
* Henderson
* Middleton
* Phillips
* Williams
* Barker^
* Nicholas
* Hayward
* Mortimer
* Whitty
* Sawyer
* McDonagh
* Triesman
* Carter
* Watt
* Collins
* McNicol
* Formby
* Evans

Treasurers|

* Henderson
* MacDonald
* Henderson
* Lathan
* Greenwood
* Gaitskell
* Bevan
* Nicholas
* Davies
* Callaghan
* Atkinson
* Varley
* Booth
* McCluskie
* Burlison
* Prosser
* Elsby
* Dromey
* Holland

Leaders in the Lords|

* Haldane
* Cripps
* Ponsonby
* Snell
* Addison
* Jowitt
* Alexander
* Pakenham
* Shackleton
* Shepherd
* Peart
* Hughes
* Richard
* Jay
* Williams
* Amos
* Ashton
* Royall
* Smith of Basildon

Scottish Labour Leaders|

* Dewar
* McLeish
* Jamieson^
* McConnell
* Jamieson^
* Alexander
* Jamieson^
* Gray
* Lamont
* Sarwar^
* Murphy
* Gray^
* Dugdale
* Rowley^
* Baillie^
* Leonard
* Baillie^
* Sarwar

PLP Chairs|

* Hardie
* Henderson
* Barnes
* MacDonald
* Henderson
* Hodge*
* Wardle*
* Adamson
* Clynes
* MacDonald
* Henderson
* Lansbury
* Attlee
* Lees-Smith*
* Pethick-Lawrence*
* Greenwood*
* Gaitskell
* Wilson
* Houghton
* Mikardo
* Hughes
* Willey
* Dormand
* Orme
* Hoyle
* Soley
* Corston
* Clwyd
* Lloyd
* Watts
* Cryer
* Morden

EPLP Leaders|

* Stewart
* Prescott
* Castle
* Lomas
* Martin
* Seal
* Ford
* Green
* David
* Donnelly
* Murphy
* Titley
* Willmott
* Corbett

* = wartime, in opposition
^ Interim/Acting

Internal elections and selections

| Leadership elections|

* 1922 Ramsay MacDonald
* 1931 Arthur Henderson
* 1932 George Lansbury
* 1935 Clement Attlee
* 1955 Hugh Gaitskell
* 1960
* 1961
* 1963 Harold Wilson
* 1976 James Callaghan
* 1980 Michael Foot
* 1983 Neil Kinnock
* 1988
* 1992 John Smith
* 1994 Tony Blair
* 2007 Gordon Brown
* 2010 Ed Miliband
* 2015 Jeremy Corbyn
* 2016
* 2020 Keir Starmer

* * *

|

Deputy Leadership elections|

* 1952 Herbert Morrison
* 1953
* 1956 Jim Griffiths
* 1959 Aneurin Bevan
* 1960 George Brown
* 1961
* 1962
* 1970 Roy Jenkins
* 1971
* 1972 Edward Short
* 1976 Michael Foot
* 1980 Denis Healey
* 1981
* 1983 Roy Hattersley
* 1988
* 1992 Margaret Beckett
* 1994 John Prescott
* 2007 Harriet Harman
* 2015 Tom Watson
* 2020 Angela Rayner

Shadow Cabinet elections and reshuffles|

* Sep 1931 (Henderson)
* Nov 1931
* 1932 (Lansbury)
* 1933
* 1934
* 1935 (Attlee)
* 1936
* 1937
* 1938
* 1939
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956 (Gaitskell)
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963 (Wilson)
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1979 (Callaghan)
* 1980 (Foot)
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983 (Kinnock)
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992 (Smith)
* 1993
* 1994 (Blair)
* 1995
* 1996
* 2010 (Miliband)
* June 2016 (Corbyn)
* May 2021 (Starmer)
* November 2021
* 2023

Party structure

| Constitution|

* Clause IV

|

Executive|

* National Executive Committee
* General Secretary
* Treasurer

Parliamentary|

* Parliamentary Labour Party
* Chief Whip of the Labour Party

Conference|

* Labour Party Conference

Subnational|

* Scottish Labour
* Welsh Labour
* Labour Party in Northern Ireland

Directly elected city mayoral authorities|

* London Labour

CLPs|

* Constituency Labour Party
* Labour International

Miscellaneous|

* National Policy Forum
* Affiliated trade unions
* Trade Union and Labour Party Liaison Organisation
* Labour Co-operative
* Co-operative Party
* Labour – Federation of Labour Groups

Associated organisations

| List|

* Organisations associated with the Labour Party

|

Sectional groups|

* Young Labour
* Labour International
* LGBT+ Labour
* Labour Campaign for Trans Rights
* Labour Students
* BAME Labour
* Disability Labour

Factional groups|

* Blue Labour
* Campaign for Labour Party Democracy
* Christians on the Left
* Compass
* Fabian Society
* Young Fabians
* Future Britain
* Centre-Left Grassroots Alliance
* Jewish Labour Movement
* Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform
* Labour CND
* Labour Friends of Israel
* Labour Friends of Palestine & the Middle East
* Labour Growth Group
* Labour Party Irish Society
* Labour Representation Committee (2004)
* Labour Women's Network
* Momentum
* Open Labour
* National Union of Labour and Socialist Clubs
* Progressive Britain
* Red Wall Caucus
* Revolutionary Communist Party Formerly Socialist Appeal
* Socialist Health Association
* Socialist Educational Association
* Socialist Environment and Resources Association
* Socialist Campaign Group
* Socialist Youth Network
* Socialist societies

Media publications|

* LabourList
* Tribune

Party alliances

| Current|

* Party of European Socialists
* Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
* Progressive Alliance
* Socialist International

|

*[c.]: circa
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