Social Democrat and Labour party (SDLP)

The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) is a Northern Irish political party that was formed in the early 1970s at the height of the ‘Troubles’. The party‘s first leader was Gerry Fitt.

In the 1990s the SDLP was one of the of the driving forces for peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland, under the leadership of John Hume and Seamus Mallon.

The SDLP advocates a United Ireland. SDLP policy also contains proposals for the abolition of 11+ exams, greater protection for agricultural and rural communities and enhanced environmental standards. It constantly opposed Brexit.

The SDLP sits on the left of the political spectrum, and is affiliated to the Labour party.

The Social Democratic and Labour Party was amongst the first to advocate the so-called principle of “consent” in Northern Ireland – recognising that fundamental changes in Northern Ireland‘s constitutional status could only come with the agreement of the majority of the people of Northern Ireland. This was eventually a principle that Sinn Fein agreed to as part of the Good Friday Agreement.

However, the Good Friday Agreement turned out to be the undoing of the SDLP. Having been the largest nationalist party in Northern Ireland during most of the previous two decades, and in 1998 the largest of all the political parties in Northern Ireland, in the subsequent Stormont election the SDLP soon began to see its voters shift their allegiance to Sinn Fein.

Much of the decline of the SDLP has also been attributed to the retirement of John Hume. Sinn Fein overtook the SDLP in the 2001 General Election, and the 2003 Northern Ireland Assembly elections for the first time.

The SDLP currently possesses 2 MPs at Westminster and 8 Members of the Northern Irish Assembly. The party lost 4 of its 12 seats in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly elections, in part due to the growth of the Alliance Party.

The Social Democratic and Labour Party is currently led by Colum Eastwood. Mr Eastwood is the MP for Foyle.