Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

Social Democratic and Labour Party leadership election, 2010

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
← 2001
  
5–7 February 2010

222
  
187

5–7 February 2010
  
2011 →

54.3%
  
45.7%

Social Democratic and Labour Party leadership election, 2010 httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

An election for the leadership of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) was held between 5-7 February, 2010. Margaret Ritchie defeated her only challenger, Alasdair McDonnell, by 222 votes to 187 votes.

Contents

Background

The former SDLP leader, Mark Durkan, announced his intention to stand down as leader of the SDLP in September 2009, citing that he did not want to continue to lead the party past his 50th birthday, and also to allow him to concentrate on his parliamentary career. Subsequently, a leadership election was scheduled for the SDLP annual conference in February, 2010.

Candidates

Two SDLP members contested the leadership election. These were:

  • Alasdair McDonnell - MP for South Belfast as well as MLA for the corresponding constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. McDonnell was also the Deputy Leader of the SDLP prior to the leadership election.
  • Margaret Ritchie - MLA for South Down and Minister for Social Development in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

    • Results

    Below is a table summarising the result of the leadership election:

    Margaret Ritchie was duly named the new SDLP leader on 7 February, 2010.

    References

    Social Democratic and Labour Party leadership election, 2010 Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA