The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905,emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson,it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movement. Following the partition of Ireland,it was the governing party of Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. It was supported by most unionist voters throughout the conflict known as the Troubles,during which time it was often referred to as the Official Unionist Party (OUP).
The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLAs) and two members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.
The Green Party Northern Ireland,sometimes abbreviated as Green Party NI,is a political party in Northern Ireland. Like many green political parties around the world,its origins lie in the anti-nuclear,labour and peace movements of the 1970s and early 1980s.
Stephen Anthony Farry is a Northern Irish former politician who was the deputy leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland from December 2016 to September 2024. Farry was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Down from 2019,until he lost his seat to independent unionist Alex Easton at the 2024 general election.
Independent Unionist has been a label sometimes used by candidates in elections in the United Kingdom,indicating a support for British unionism.
Alexander Easton is a Northern Ireland politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North Down since 2024. He previously served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for North Down from 2003 to 2024.
Seanad Éireann is the senate of the Oireachtas,which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann.
Rachel Woods is a Northern Irish academic and former Green Party politician who served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for North Down from 2019 to 2022.
Clare Bailey is a Northern Irish activist and former politician who was the Leader of Green Party Northern Ireland from November 2018 to August 2022,having been deputy leader of the party from 2014 to 2017. Bailey was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast South from 2016 to 2022.
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.
Ian James Marshall is a farmer and former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician from Markethill,County Armagh,in Northern Ireland. He is from a unionist background and campaigned against Brexit. He was elected to Seanad Éireann in Dublin in 2018,but lost his seat in the 2020 Seanad election.
Kate Siobhan Nicholl is a Northern Irish politician for the Alliance Party,serving as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast South since 2022.
Adam McGibbon is a Northern Irish environmentalist and writer.
Eóin Tennyson is a Northern Irish politician who has been the deputy leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland since October 2024. He succeeded former deputy leader Stephen Farry who resigned from the position in 2024. He has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Upper Bann since 2022,where he defeated former Social Democratic and Labour Party incumbent Dolores Kelly to become the youngest MLA for the constituency.
Phillip Brett is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician,serving as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast North since 2022. Brett is the Economy spokesperson for the DUP and Chairs the Committee for the Economy at the Northern Ireland Assembly
Nuala McAllister is a Northern Irish politician who is an Alliance Party Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). She was elected as an MLA in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election for Belfast North.
Local elections were held in Northern Ireland on 18 May 2023. The elections were delayed by two weeks to avoid overlapping with the coronation of King Charles III. Following the elections,Sinn Féin became the largest party in local government for the first time. It also marked the first time that nationalist parties had garnered a greater share of the vote than unionist parties,however,despite this,there were more unionist councillors elected than nationalists.
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.
A by-election was due to be held for a vacancy in Seanad Éireann on Monday,29 April 2024. The vacancy was caused by the resignation for health reasons of Sinn Féin's Niall ÓDonnghaile from the Administrative Panel on 22 January 2024. At the close of nominations on 22 March 2024,only one candidate had been nominated,and Mal O'Hara of the Green Party was elected unopposed.
The 2024 Alliance Party of Northern Ireland deputy leadership election was triggered on 8 September 2024 by the resignation of Stephen Farry as deputy leader of the Alliance Party. Farry,who lost his seat in North Down to Alex Easton in the most recent general election back in July,had been in the role in the party since 2016. The party's finance spokesperson,Eóin Tennyson,was elected to succeed him.
