 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(June 2016) |
| This article is part of a series within the Politics of the United Kingdom on the |
 |
|---|
In Northern Ireland, the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the largest eligible political party in the Northern Ireland Assembly that is not in the Northern Ireland Executive. The position is currently held by Matthew O'Toole of the Social Democratic and Labour Party. [1]
| (1921–72) |
 |
|---|
From the establishment of the Parliament of Northern Ireland in 1921, the Nationalist Party were consistently the largest non-government party; however, they intermittently practised a policy of abstentionism and never formally adopted the mantle of Official Opposition. [2] Various Nationalist, Labour and Independent Unionist politicians performed an opposition role without any formal recognition.
After the 1958 election the Northern Ireland Labour Party won four seats and were asked by the Speaker to form the Official Opposition. Tom Boyd was appointed the first Leader of the Opposition. [3]
In February 1965 the Nationalists decided that they would form the Official Opposition for the first time, and appointed their leader, Eddie McAteer, as Leader of the Opposition. [4] He served in this role until October 1968 when the party withdrew from Stormont in response to the Government's response to the RUC's attack on a NICRA march in Derry. [5]
From 1968 until the prorogation of the Parliament no other party agreed to form the Official Opposition and therefore no Leader of the Opposition was appointed.
When the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive were established in 1998 and 1999 respectively, all eligible parties were required to nominate ministers to serve on the Executive. No provision for an Official Opposition or for the role of Leader of the Opposition was made. Non-Executive parties continued to fulfil the role of an opposition in an unofficial capacity, much as various Nationalist and Labour MPs had done in the House of Commons. [6]
The Assembly and Executive Reform (Assembly Opposition) Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 [7] established provisions which allowed for a creation of an Official Opposition, with certain rights and entitlements associated with the role. Assembly standing orders subsequently made provision for the creation of a “Leader of the Opposition” and “Deputy Leader of the Opposition”, to be nominated by the largest and second-largest parties which are entitled to membership of the Official Opposition. [8] After the 2016 election the UUP and SDLP decided to form the Official Opposition. However, neither party opted to nominate individuals to the roles of Leader and Deputy Leader. [9]
Following the SDLP declining to nominate an Infrastructure Minister to the Executive, on the 25 July 2022 the SDLP formed an opposition and nominated Matthew O’Toole as the first Leader of the Opposition in the Northern Ireland Assembly. [10]
Northern Ireland Labour Party Nationalist Party Social Democratic and Labour Party
| Leader of the Opposition | Deputy Leader of the Opposition | Body | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name (Birth–Death) Constituency | Portrait | Term of office | Name (Birth–Death) Constituency | Portrait | Term of office | |||
| Office vacant | Office abolished | 1st Parliament | ||||||
| 2nd Parliament | ||||||||
| 3rd Parliament | ||||||||
| 4th Parliament | ||||||||
| 5th Parliament | ||||||||
| 6th Parliament | ||||||||
| 7th Parliament | ||||||||
| 8th Parliament | ||||||||
| Tom Boyd (1903–1991) Belfast Pottinger |  | 5 April 1958 | 2 February 1965 | 9th Parliament | ||||
| 10th Parliament | ||||||||
| Eddie McAteer (1914–1986) Foyle | | 2 February 1965 | 15 October 1968 | |||||
| 11th Parliament | ||||||||
| Office vacant | ||||||||
| 12th Parliament | ||||||||
| Office abolished | 1973 Assembly | |||||||
| Constitutional Convention | ||||||||
| 1982 Assembly | ||||||||
| Forum | ||||||||
| 1st Assembly | ||||||||
| 2nd Assembly | ||||||||
| 3rd Assembly | ||||||||
| 4th Assembly | ||||||||
| Office vacant | Office vacant | 5th Assembly | ||||||
| 6th Assembly | ||||||||
| 7th Assembly | ||||||||
| Matthew O'Toole (b. 1983) Belfast South |  | 25 July 2022 | 27 October 2022 | |||||
| Office vacant | ||||||||
| Matthew O'Toole (b. 1983) Belfast South | | 3 February 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
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.
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It was created as a separate legal entity on 3 May 1921, under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. The new autonomous Northern Ireland was formed from six of the nine counties of Ulster: four counties with unionist majorities – Antrim, Armagh, Down, and Derry/Londonderry – and two counties with slight Irish nationalist majorities – Fermanagh and Tyrone – in the 1918 General Election. The remaining three Ulster counties with larger nationalist majorities were not included. In large part unionists, at least in the north-east, supported its creation while nationalists were opposed.
The Northern Ireland Assembly, often referred to by the metonym Stormont, is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive. It sits at Parliament Buildings at Stormont in Belfast.
The Northern Ireland Executive is the devolved government of Northern Ireland, an administrative branch of the legislature – the Northern Ireland Assembly. It is answerable to the assembly and was initially established according to the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, which followed the Good Friday Agreement. The executive is referred to in the legislation as the Executive Committee of the assembly and is an example of consociationalist ("power-sharing") government.
The Sunningdale Agreement was an attempt to establish a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive and a cross-border Council of Ireland. The agreement was signed at Northcote House in Sunningdale Park, located in Sunningdale, Berkshire, on 9 December 1973. Unionist opposition, violence and a general strike caused the collapse of the agreement in May 1974.
The Northern Ireland Assembly established in 1982 represented an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to restore the devolution to Northern Ireland which had been suspended 10 years previously. The Assembly was dissolved in 1986.
The 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on Wednesday, 7 March 2007. It was the third election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998. The election saw endorsement of the St Andrews Agreement and the two largest parties, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin, along with the Alliance Party, increase their support, with falls in support for the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).
The Nationalist Party was the continuation of the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP), and was formed after the partition of Ireland, by the Northern Ireland-based members of the IPP.
The Executive of the 1st Northern Ireland Assembly was, under the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, a power-sharing coalition.
The First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland are the joint heads of government of Northern Ireland, leading the Northern Ireland Executive and with overall responsibility for the running of the Executive Office. Despite the titles of the two offices, the two positions have the same governmental power, resulting in a duumvirate; the deputy First Minister, customarily spelled with a lowercase d, is not subordinate to the First Minister. Created under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, both were initially nominated and appointed by members of the Northern Ireland Assembly on a joint ticket by a cross-community vote, under consociational principles. That process was changed following the 2006 St Andrews Agreement, such that the First Minister now is nominated by the largest party overall, and the deputy First Minister is nominated by the largest party from the next largest community block.
A power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive was formed following the Northern Ireland Assembly elections of 1973. The executive served as the devolved government of Northern Ireland from 1 January 1974 until its collapse on 28 May 1974.
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.
The Third Executive was, under the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, a power-sharing coalition.
The 2017 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on Thursday, 2 March 2017. The election was held to elect members (MLAs) following the resignation of deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness in protest over the Renewable Heat Incentive scandal. McGuinness' position was not filled, and thus by law his resignation triggered an election.
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 (DUP), in protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The role of official opposition in the Northern Ireland Assembly can be taken by larger political parties who do not participate in Northern Ireland's consociational power-sharing Executive. Forming an Assembly Opposition empowers opposition parties to scrutinise the work of government, giving them financial assistance, enhanced speaking rights in the chamber and the right to chair certain committees.
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.
A Northern Ireland Assembly election will be held to elect 90 members to the Northern Ireland Assembly by 6 May 2027.
This is a list of the 90 members of the seventh Northern Ireland Assembly, the unicameral devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. The election took place on 5 May 2022, with counting continuing the following 2 days; voter turnout was estimated at 64.4%.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)State and Government in Northern Ireland (1922–1972) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Executive |  | |
| Legislative |
| |