National Progressive Democrats

Not to be confused with Progressive Democrats.

National Progressive Democrats
Founders	Noël Browne, Jack McQuillan
Founded	1958
Dissolved	1963
Merged into	Labour Party
Ideology	Socialism Progressivism
Political position	Left Wing
Politics of the Republic of Ireland Political parties Elections

The National Progressive Democrats was a small socialist political party in Ireland, active between 1958 and 1963.

The party was founded as a left-wing progressive secular party. ^[1] Its founders were Noël Browne (former Minister for Health) and Jack McQuillan, former members of the social democratic wing of Clann na Poblachta. The party was noted for its vigorous role in Dáil Éireann. Between 1958 and 1961, 7 of the 9 motions discussed in Private Member's Time had been proposed by one of them. In 1961 and 1962, they asked 1,400 parliamentary questions, 17% of the total. Taoiseach Seán Lemass paid them a compliment by referring to them as "the real opposition". Both were re-elected at the 1961 general election, but the party won little support as it fielded only one other candidate.

The party was disbanded when it merged into the Labour Party in 1963. ^[2] However, both Browne and McQuillan lost their seats in the next election contesting for the Labour Party.

List of National Progressive Democrat candidates

Election	Constituency	Candidate	1st Pref. votes	%
1958 Dublin South-Central by-election	Dublin South-Central	Noel Hartnett	2,688	15.3
1961 general election	Carlow–Kilkenny	Kathleen Brady	1,484	3.4
	Dublin South-East	Noël Browne	4,717	19.1
	Roscommon	Jack McQuillan	5,289	15.1

General election results

Election	Seats won	±	Position	First Pref votes	%	Government	Leader
1961	2 / 144	2	4th	11,490	1.0%	Opposition	Noël Browne

References

1. "Browne and McQuillan to form new party" . The Irish Times . 17 May 1958. p. 2. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
2. "Browne and McQuillan join Labour Party" . The Irish Times. 28 November 1963. p. 1. Retrieved 8 July 2022.

Further reading

• Barberis, Peter, John McHugh and Mike Tyldesley, 2005. Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organisations. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN   0-8264-5814-9, ISBN   978-0-8264-5814-8
• Manning, Maurice (1972). Irish Political Parties: An Introduction. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. ISBN   978-0-7171-0536-6.