The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has seven members in the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLAs) and two members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.
The Northern Ireland Assembly,often referred to by the metonym Stormont,is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom,and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive. It sits at Parliament Buildings at Stormont in Belfast.
United Ireland,also referred to as Irish reunification,or a New Ireland,is the proposition that all of Ireland should be a single sovereign state. At present,the island is divided politically;the sovereign Republic of Ireland has jurisdiction over the majority of Ireland,while Northern Ireland,which lies entirely within the Irish province of Ulster,is part of the United Kingdom. Achieving a united Ireland is a central tenet of Irish nationalism and Republicanism,particularly of both mainstream and dissident republican political and paramilitary organisations. Unionists support Northern Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom and oppose Irish unification.
Stephen Anthony Farry is a politician who has served as the deputy leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland since December 2016 and as Member of Parliament (MP) for North Down since 2019.
Edwin Poots is a British politician from Northern Ireland,serving as Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly since February 2024. He served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from May to June 2021. He was first elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in 1998. As of 2023,Poots was the DUP's Spokesperson for Institutional Reform and Hard to Reach Communities.
In Northern Ireland,the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the largest eligible political party in the Northern Ireland Assembly that is not in the Northern Ireland Executive. The position is currently held by Matthew O'Toole of the Social Democratic and Labour Party.
The 2017 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on Thursday,2 March 2017. The election was held to elect members (MLAs) following the resignation of deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness in protest over the Renewable Heat Incentive scandal. McGuinness' position was not filled,and thus by law his resignation triggered an election.
Douglas Ricardo Beattie is a Northern Irish politician and former member of the British Army,who has been leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) since 27 May 2021. He has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Upper Bann since 2016. He is characterised as a 'progressive' and 'liberal' unionist.
Emma Little-Pengelly is a Northern Irish barrister and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician serving as the deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland since February 2024. She has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Lagan Valley since May 2022,when she was co-opted (appointed) to replace DUP party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson,who declined to take up his seat following the 2022 election.
Clare Bailey is a Northern Irish former politician who was the Leader of Green Party Northern Ireland from November 2018 to August 2022,and was the Deputy Leader of the Green 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.
The Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland,commonly abbreviated to the Northern Ireland Protocol,is a protocol to the Brexit withdrawal agreement that sets out Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit relationship with both the EU and Great Britain. The Withdrawal Agreement,including the Protocol,came into effect on 1 January 2021. Citing the island of Ireland's "unique circumstances," the Protocol governs unique arrangements on the island between the United Kingdom and the European Union;it regulates some aspects of trade in goods between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
Cara Hunter MLA is an Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician,currently serving as a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Londonderry,a position she has held since 18 May 2020.
Events from the year 2021 in Northern Ireland.
A Northern Ireland Assembly election will be held to elect 90 members to the Northern Ireland Assembly by 6 May 2027.
Events from the year 2022 in Northern Ireland.
Eóin Tennyson is a Northern Irish Alliance Party politician who has served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Upper Bann since the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election.
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 Northern Ireland Protocol Bill 2022–23 was a proposed Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that sought to unilaterally override parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol (NIP). The NIP is the part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement that governs some aspects of trade in goods between Northern Ireland and Great Britain,as well as between Northern Ireland and the European Union. The bill was introduced to address what the government call 'unacceptable barriers to trade' that the protocol introduced within the UK internal market. The bill was criticised by most members of the Northern Ireland Assembly,by the European Commission,and by member states of the European Union. It was characterised in the UK and abroad as a breach of international law.
The 2024 Northern Ireland Executive formation followed on from the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election,but was delayed to February 2024. The 22 months delay in the restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive resulted from a boycott of the process by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Eventually it resulted in the formation of the Executive of the 7th Northern Ireland Assembly,led by Michelle O'Neill of Sinn Féin as First Minister and Emma Little-Pengelly of the DUP as deputy First Minister.
