President Baroness Blood Secretary Boyd Black Founded 2008 | Chair Anna McAleavy Vice Chair Kathryn Johnston | |
Youth wing Young Labour Northern Ireland | ||
The Labour Party in Northern Ireland (LPNI) is the Northern Irish organisation of the Labour Party. The Labour Party is not a registered political party in Northern Ireland and does not currently contest elections. As of August 2016, there were approximately 3,000 Labour Party members in Northern Ireland.
Contents
In the 2016 Assembly elections, 8 members of the party ran for election under the umbrella of the Northern Ireland Labour Representation Committee, as the Labour Party NEC had refused to allow candidates to stand under the Labour banner.
History
For many years the UK Labour Party held to a policy of not allowing residents of Northern Ireland to apply for membership, instead supporting the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) which informally takes the Labour whip in the House of Commons.
The 2003 Labour Party Conference accepted legal advice that the party could not continue to prohibit residents of the province joining, and whilst the National Executive Committee has established a regional constituency party it has not yet agreed to contest elections there.
Labour Representation Committee
In December 2015 the LPNI's executive committee voted to contest elections in Northern Ireland. In the run-up to the 2016 Assembly elections, local members registered a new party, the Northern Ireland Labour Representation Committee, with the Electoral Commission recognising them in April 2016. The party's constitution has a clause stating that it will disband once Labour lifts the ban on contesting elections in Northern Ireland. The new party's leader is journalist and author Kathryn Johnston. Several former members of the Northern Ireland Labour Party hold membership, including Erskine Holmes and Douglas McIldoon. Eight candidates ran under the label, despite the Labour Party warning Northern Irish Labour party members that they could face expulsion from the party for standing as candidates, as Labour party members who support a political organisation outside the Labour group can be expelled.
Johnston highlighted policy differences with the SDLP, including Labour's position on abortion, same-sex marriage and support for an integrated and secular education system. The move to stand in elections was assisted by former Labour MP Andrew MacKinlay.
They stood one candidate each in 8 of the 18 constituencies in the 2016 Assembly elections. They won no seats, with candidates obtaining between 0.2% and 0.7% of the first preference votes. They are not standing in the 2017 Assembly elections.
2016 UK Labour leadership election
765 Labour party members voted in the Labour Party (UK) leadership election, 2016 (Corbyn 541; Smith 224).