Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats
The Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats is a local party of the Liberal Democrats that operates in Northern Ireland. Unlike its counterparts in England, Scotland and Wales, the Northern Ireland party is not a state party within the federal Liberal Democrats (though there does exist constitutional provision for it to be established so by conference) but a local party similar to constituency parties in the rest of the UK. Elections The Liberal Democrats do not presently contest elections in Northern Ireland but there is a strong history of support to the Alliance Party. Members Several individuals, including former Alliance Party leader David Ford, hold membership of both the Alliance Party and the Liberal Democrats. Alliance members of the House of Lords take the Liberal Democrat whip on non-Northern Ireland issues. John Alderdice was leader of Alliance 1987–1998 and has sat as a Lib Dem peer since 1996. Alliance Party MP Naomi Long (2010–2015) did not take the Liberal De ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Liberalism
Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. Liberals espouse various and often mutually conflicting views depending on their understanding of these principles but generally support private property, market economies, individual rights (including civil rights and human rights), liberal democracy, secularism, rule of law, Economic freedom, economic and political freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion.Generally support: * * * * * * *constitutional government and privacy rights * Liberalism is frequently cited as the dominant ideology of modern history.Wolfe, p. 23. Liberalism became a distinct Political movement, movement in the Age of Enlightenment, gaining popularity among Western world, Western philosophers and economists. L ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, an open border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, its population was 1,903,175, making up around 3% of the Demographics of the United Kingdom#Population, UK's population and 27% of the population on the island of Ireland#Demographics, Ireland. The Northern Ireland Assembly, established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998, holds responsibility for a range of Devolution, devolved policy matters, while other areas are reserved for the Government of the United Kingdom, UK Government. The government of Northern Ireland cooperates with the government of Ireland in several areas under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. The Republic of Ireland ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Organisation Of The Liberal Democrats (UK)
An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is an entity—such as a company, or corporation or an institution (formal organization), or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. Organizations may also operate secretly or illegally in the case of secret societies, criminal organizations, and resistance movements. And in some cases may have obstacles from other organizations (e.g.: MLK's organization). What makes an organization recognized by the government is either filling out incorporation or recognition in the form of either societal pressure (e.g.: Advocacy group), causing concerns (e.g.: Resistance movement) or being considered the spokesperson of a group of people subject to negotiation (e.g.: the Polisario Front being recognized as the sole representative of the Sahrawi people and forming a partially recognized state.) Compare the concept of social groups, which may include non-organiza ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Welsh Liberal Democrats
The Welsh Liberal Democrats () is a Liberalism, liberal, Federalism, federalist political party in Wales, part of UK Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrats. The party is led by Jane Dodds, who has served as an Member of the Senedd, MS for Mid and West Wales (Senedd electoral region), Mid and West Wales since 2021 Senedd election, May 2021. The party currently has one elected member in the Senedd and one Welsh seat in the UK House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. It also has several members of the House of Lords. The party had 69 local councillors serving in principal authorities as of the 2022 local authority elections, up 10 from 2017. Mark Williams (politician), Mark Williams, then-Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, was defeated at the 2017 United Kingdom general election, 2017 general election in his Ceredigion (UK Parliament constituency), Ceredigion constituency by Ben Lake of Plaid Cymru, whose majority of 104 made the seat one of the most margina ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Scottish Liberal Democrats
The Scottish Liberal Democrats () is a liberal, federalist political party in Scotland, part of UK Liberal Democrats. The party holds 5 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, 6 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons and 86 of 1,227 local councillors. The Scottish Liberal Democrats is one of the three state parties within the federal Liberal Democrats, the others being the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the English Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrats do not contest elections in Northern Ireland. History Formation and early years The Scottish Liberal Democrat party was formed by the merger of the Scottish Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Scotland, as part of the merger of the Liberal Party and SDP on 3 March 1988. The party campaigned for the creation of a devolved Scottish Parliament as part of its wider policy of a federal United Kingdom. In the late 1980s and 1990s it and its representatives participated in the Scottish Cons ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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English Liberal Democrats
The English Liberal Democrats, officially the Liberal Democrats in England, is the state party within the Liberal Democrats that operates in England. It is a federation of the eleven regional parties in England and the English branch of the youth and student organisation. The regions are further divided into local parties. The party currently holds 65 of the English seats in the House of Commons and two seats on the London Assembly. Organisation English Council The English Council is the sovereign body of the English party. It consists of the chairs of regional parties, representatives elected by regional party members, and representatives of the organisation representing youth and student members within the English party. The Council meets three times a year and elects the English Council Executive. English Council Executive The English Council Executive manages the running of the English party between English Council Meetings. The English Council Executive consists of the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Naomi Long
Naomi Rachel Long MLA (née Johnston; born 13 December 1971) is a Northern Irish politician who has served as Minister of Justice in the Northern Ireland Executive since February 2024, having previously served from January 2020 to October 2022. She has served as leader of the Alliance Party since 2016 and a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast East since 2020. Long served as Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2009 to 2010 and represented Belfast East in the Northern Ireland Assembly from 2003 to 2010. She resigned as an MLA after being elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Belfast East at the 2010 general election. She served for one parliamentary term and lost her seat to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) at the 2015 general election. She returned to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2016, before resigning for a second time after being elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Northern Ireland in 2019. After the United Kingdom left the E ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Alderdice, Baron Alderdice
John Thomas Alderdice, Baron Alderdice (born 28 March 1955), is a Northern Ireland politician. He was the Speaker and a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Belfast from 1998 to 2004 and 1998 to 2003, respectively. Alderdice was the leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland from 1987 to 1998, and since 1996 has sat in the House of Lords as a Liberal Democrat. Personal life Alderdice was born to David Alderdice and Annie Margaret Helena Shields. He was educated at Ballymena Academy and the Queen's University Belfast (QUB) where he studied medicine and qualified in 1978. In 1977 he married Joan Hill, with whom he has two sons and one daughter. He worked part-time as a consultant psychiatrist in psychotherapy in the NHS from 1988 until he retired from psychiatric practice in 2010. He also lectured at Queen's University's Faculty of Medicine between 1991 and 1999. Alderdice claims a distant relationship to John King, a 19th-century Australian explorer ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Whip (politics)
A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline (that members of the party vote according to the party platform rather than their constituents, conscience vote, individual conscience or donors) in a legislature. Whips are the party's "enforcers". They work to ensure that their fellow political party legislators attend voting sessions and vote according to their party's official policy. Members who vote against party policy may "lose the whip", being expelled from the party. The term is said to be taken from the "wikt:whipper-in, whipper-in" during a hunt, who tries to prevent hounds from wandering away from a hunting pack. The term may more reasonably have been taken from the practice of "keeping discipline" in slaves by cracking a leather whip over their heads. Additionally, the term "whip" may mean the voting instructions issued to legislators, or the status of a certain legislator in their party's parliamentary grouping. Etymology ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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David Ford (politician)
David Ford (born 24 February 1951) is a former Northern Irish politician, who was leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland from October 2001 until October 2016 and was Northern Ireland Minister of Justice from April 2010 until May 2016. He was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for South Antrim from 1998 to 2018. Early life Ford was born on 24 February 1951 to Irish and Welsh parents and grew up in Orpington, Kent, England. Ford was educated at Warren Road Primary School, Orpington and Dulwich College, London. He spent summer holidays on his uncle's farm in Gortin, County Tyrone, and moved to Northern Ireland permanently in 1969 when he went to study Economics at Queen's University Belfast (QUB). There he joined the university's student Alliance Party grouping. After graduating, Ford took a year out to work as a volunteer at the ecumenical Corrymeela Community in Ballycastle, County Antrim, before starting work as a social worker in 1973. Political ca ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alliance Party Of Northern Ireland
The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), or simply Alliance, is a liberal and centrist political party in Northern Ireland. Following the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, it was the third-largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, holding seventeen seats. It broke through by achieving third place in first preference votes in the 2019 European Parliament election and polling third-highest regionally at the 2019 UK general election. The party won one of the three Northern Ireland seats in the European Parliament, and one seat, North Down, in the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Founded in 1970 from the New Ulster Movement, the Alliance Party originally represented moderate and non-sectarian unionism. However, over time, particularly in the 1990s, it moved towards neutrality on the Union, and came to represent wider liberal and non-sectarian concerns. It supports the Good Friday Agreement but maintains a desir ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Elections In Northern Ireland
Elections in Northern Ireland are held on a regular basis to local government in Northern Ireland, local councils, the Northern Ireland Assembly and to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 members, elected in 18 five-member electoral district, constituencies by the single transferable vote (STV) method. Northern Ireland is represented at Westminster by list of parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland, 18 single-member constituencies elected by the first-past-the-post voting, first-past-the-post method. Unlike in the rest of the United Kingdom, elections in Northern Ireland are administered centrally by the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland and the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland rather than by local authorities. Elections to the United Kingdom House of Commons ; Legend: U: Unionism in Ireland, unionist; N: Irish nationalism, nationalist; O: other. * Sinn Féin have never taken their seats in the United Kingdom Hous ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |