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A leadership election is to be held for the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) of Northern Ireland on 5 October 2024 following the resignation of Colum Eastwood on 29 August 2024 to focus on his role in the party's New Ireland Commission and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Foyle. [1] [2] [3] The SDLP's other MP, Claire Hanna, ran unopposed for the leadership. [4]
Eastwood was elected SDLP leader in 2015 after successfully challenging Dr Alasdair McDonnell to become the party's sixth leader in what was regarded as a "meteoric rise". [5]
The party lost four seats in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, losing ground to Sinn Féin. They held their two seats at the 2024 United Kingdom general election, but their performance was seen as disappointing. [1] Eastwood's own majority in Foyle was reduced from about 17,000 to just over 4,000. [6]
The leadership election briefly overlapped with an Ulster Unionist Party leadership election and an Alliance Party deputy leadership election. [7] [8]
Eastwood will formally resign at the party's conference on 5 October 2024 to allow a new leader to be elected. Nominations for the leadership opened on 30 August with only Member of Parliament (MP) for Belfast South and Mid Down Claire Hanna and the party's eight Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) eligible to put their names forward over the following seven days. [5]
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 30 August | Nominations opened. [9] |
| 6 September | Nominations closed at 12:00 BST. [10] |
| 5 October | Eastwood will formally resign at the party's conference. [11] The new leader will be elected or ratified. [12] |
| Candidate | Born | Political office | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 19 June 1980 | Deputy Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (since 2022) MP for Belfast South and Mid Down (since 2019) | [13] |
| Candidate | Born | Political office | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 18 May 1983 | Leader of the Opposition (since 2022) MLA for Belfast South (since 2020) | [14] |
On 6 September 2024, Claire Hanna was announced as the only nominated candidate for leader. She will be ratified in the post at the SDLP conference on 5 October. [15]
The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has seven members in the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLAs) and two members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.
Foyle is a constituency in Northern Ireland covering Derry, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Its current Member of Parliament (MP) has been Colum Eastwood of the SDLP since 2019.
Alasdair McDonnell is a retired Irish nationalist politician in Northern Ireland who was leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) from 2011 to 2015, having served as deputy leader between 2004 and 2010. He was the Member of Parliament for Belfast South from 2005 to 2017, and also a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast South from 1998 to 2015. He graduated from medical school at University College Dublin in 1974.
This article lists the Leaders of political parties in the United Kingdom to provide insight into the politics of the United Kingdom. It contains details including which party the leader belongs to, the leader's seat, and which form of leadership that person holds.
The fourth Northern Ireland Assembly was the unicameral devolved legislature of Northern Ireland following the 2011 assembly election on 5 May 2011. This iteration of the elected Assembly convened for the first time on 12 May 2011 in Parliament Buildings in Stormont, and ran for a full term.
Colum Eastwood is an Irish nationalist politician who served as Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) from 2015 to 2024. He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Foyle since 2019, served in Northern Ireland Assembly from 2011 to 2019 and served on Derry City Council from 2005 to 2011.
The 2005 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland was held on 5 May 2005 and all 18 seats in Northern Ireland were contested. 1,139,993 people were eligible to vote, down 51,016 from the 2001 general election. 63.49% of eligible voters turned out, down 5.1 percentage points from the last general election.
An election for the leadership of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) was held 4–5 November 2011. Alasdair McDonnell won the leadership election and was announced the new leader of the SDLP on 5 November 2011.
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.
Claire Aisling Hanna is an Irish politician who has served as Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) since 5 October 2024 following her successful candidacy in the 2024 leadership election. She has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Belfast South and Mid Down since 2019. Hanna previously served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast South from 2015 until her election to Westminster in 2019.
A leadership election was held for the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) of Northern Ireland between 12 and 15 November 2015. The result was a victory for Colum Eastwood.
The 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on 5 May 2022. It elected 90 members to the Northern Ireland Assembly. It was the seventh assembly election since the establishment of the assembly in 1998. The election was held three months after the Northern Ireland Executive collapsed due to the resignation of the First Minister, Paul Givan of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), in protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Elisha McCallion is an Irish former Sinn Féin politician who served as a Senator for the Industrial and Commercial Panel from April 2020 until October 2020. She previously served as Mayor of Derry from 2015 to 2016, a Member of Parliament (MP) for Foyle from 2017 to 2019, and as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Foyle from March to June 2017.
Local elections were held in Northern Ireland on Thursday 2 May 2019. The last elections were held in 2014. 819 candidates contested 462 seats across Northern Ireland's 11 local government districts. 1,305,384 people aged 18 and over were eligible to vote, and 52.7% of the electorate turned out.
Matthew John O'Toole MLA is an Irish nationalist politician, former civil servant, and journalist, serving as leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) in the Northern Ireland Assembly and leader of the opposition since 2022, and a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast South since 2020.
Sinéad McLaughlin is a Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician who has served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Foyle since January 2020.
A Northern Ireland Assembly election will be held to elect 90 members to the Northern Ireland Assembly on or before 6 May 2027.
The 2024 general election in Northern Ireland was held on 4 July 2024, with all 18 Northern Irish seats in the House of Commons contested. The general election occurred after the recently completed constituency boundaries review.
Events from the year 2024 in Northern Ireland.
The New Ireland Commission is an organisation established in 2021 by the Social Democratic and Labour Party that holds discussions with citizens on the possibilities of a United Ireland.
2024 United Kingdom party leadership elections | ||
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February: Welsh Labour April: Scottish National Party May: Democratic Unionist Party July: Welsh Labour September: Ulster Unionist Party September: Scottish Conservatives September: Conservative (UK) October: Social Democratic and Labour Party |  | |
