Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
---|---|
Location |
|
Official language | English |
Chair | Liam Conlon |
Affiliations | Labour Party |
Website | www |
The Labour Party Irish Society is a socialist society affiliated to the British Labour Party. It is a collective body of Labour Party members of Irish birth or descent, and those interested in Ireland and Irish affairs. It promotes the interests of the Irish in Britain as a whole, and encourages Irish people to become involved in the Labour Party and politics generally. [1] Former chair of the society and current Labour Communications Director, [2] Matthew Doyle, has also said that it works to "ensure that the relationship between Britain and Ireland is marked by mutual respect and friendship rather than the prejudice, discrimination and violence of the past." [3]
In recent years the society, chaired by Liam Conlon [4] the son [5] [6] of Sue Gray Keir Starmer's Chief of Staff, has campaigned on extending abortion and same-sex marriage rights to Northern Ireland, [7] as well as working on the repeal the 8th campaign in the Republic of Ireland. [8] The society was also involved in campaigning for the Irish Labour Party in the 2020 general election. [9]
The Labour Party is a centre-left and social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. Founded on 28 May 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin, and William O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trades Union Congress, it describes itself as a "democratic socialist party" in its constitution.
A socialist society is a membership organisation that is affiliated with the Labour Party in the UK.
The Electoral Reform Society (ERS) is an independent advocacy organisation in the United Kingdom which promotes electoral reform. It seeks to replace first-past-the-post voting with proportional representation, advocating the single transferable vote, and an elected upper house of Parliament. It is the world's oldest still-extant electoral reform campaign.
The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1983 was an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland which inserted a subsection recognising "the equal right to life of the pregnant woman and the unborn". Abortion had been subject to criminal penalty in Ireland since at least 1861; the amendment ensured that legislation or judicial interpretation would be restricted to allowing abortion in circumstances where the life of a pregnant woman was at risk. It was approved by referendum on 7 September 1983 and signed into law on 7 October 1983. In 2018, it was repealed by referendum.
Liam Dominic Byrne is a British Labour politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North since 2004. He served in Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Cabinet from 2008 to 2010.
The Guildford Four and Maguire Seven were two groups of people, mostly Irish, who were wrongly convicted in English courts in 1975 and 1976 for the Guildford pub bombings of 5 October 1974, and the Woolwich pub bombing of 7 November 1974. All the convictions were eventually quashed after long campaigns for justice, and the cases, along with those of the Birmingham Six, diminished public confidence in the integrity of the English criminal justice system.
Conor Patrick McGinn is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for St Helens North from 2015 to 2024.
The Irish Anti-Partition League (APL) was a political organisation based in Northern Ireland which campaigned for a united Ireland from 1945 to 1958. The organisation aimed to unite Irish nationalists, filling the void left by nationalist groups that had become inactive in the decade prior. At its peak, the League had around 3,500 members. There was significant internal debate about whether candidates should participate in the British Parliament. In the mid-1950s, most abstentionists had left the organisation. Dwindling membership meant that by 1956, no candidates were nominated for committee elections. The organisation remained inactive until 1958, when a final meeting was held to distribute remaining funds. The League was succeeded by National Unity in 1959.
Labour Youth is the youth wing of the Labour Party of Ireland. Membership is open to those aged from 16 to 30 years old.
Pamela Ann Catherine Nash is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke since 2024. She is currently the Chief Executive of Scotland in Union, a campaign group launched in March 2015 to help keep Scotland within the United Kingdom. Between 2010 and 2015 she was the Labour MP for Airdrie and Shotts.
The United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum, also known as the UK-wide referendum on the Parliamentary voting system was held on Thursday 5 May 2011 in the United Kingdom to choose the method of electing MPs at subsequent general elections. It occurred as a provision of the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement drawn up in 2010 and also indirectly in the aftermath of the 2009 expenses scandal. It operated under the provisions of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 and was the first national referendum to be held under provisions laid out in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. Many local elections were also held on this day.
Aodhán Ó Ríordáin is an Irish Labour Party politician who has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Ireland for the Dublin constituency since July 2024. He previously served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Bay North constituency from the 2020 general election to 2024, and from 2011 to 2016 for the Dublin North-Central constituency. He served as a Minister of State from 2014 to 2016. He was a Senator for the Industrial and Commercial Panel from 2016 to 2020.
Ruth Lauren Smeeth, Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stoke-on-Trent North from 2015 until 2019. Since 2022 she has been a member of the House of Lords.
Louise Margaret Haigh is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for Transport since 2024. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Heeley since 2015.
The Social Democrats are a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Ireland. Led by Holly Cairns since March 2023, the party was launched on 15 July 2015 by three independent TDs: Catherine Murphy, Róisín Shortall, and Stephen Donnelly. It promotes the Nordic model and pro-European views.
Susan Gray is a British special adviser and former civil servant who has served as Downing Street Chief of Staff under Prime Minister Keir Starmer since 2024, having previously served under Starmer as Chief of Staff to the Leader of the Opposition from 2023 to 2024.
The Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland is an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland which permits the Oireachtas to legislate for abortion. The constitution had previously prohibited abortion, unless there was a serious risk to the life of the mother.
On 4 September 2023, Keir Starmer, Leader of the UK Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition, carried out a reshuffle of his shadow cabinet. This was his third major reshuffle and was described as promoting his loyalists to senior roles.
Liam Joseph Conlon is a British politician. A member of the Labour Party, Conlon has served as the Member of Parliament for Beckenham and Penge since July 2024. He is also chairperson of the Labour Party Irish Society.
Morgan James McSweeney is the Downing Street Director of Communications for the Starmer ministry. Prior to July 2024, he was the campaign manager for the Labour Party and the former director of the think tank Labour Together.