Northern Irish Labour Party
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The Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) was a political party in
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 Repub ...
which operated from 1924 until 1987.


Origins

The roots of the NILP can be traced back to the formation of the
Belfast Labour Party The Belfast Labour Party was a political party in Belfast, Ireland from 1892 until 1924. It was founded in 1892 by a conference of Belfast Independent Labour Party, Independent Labour activists and trade unionists. Labour ran the Ulster Unionis ...
in 1892. Previously, in 1885,
Alexander Bowman Alexander or Alex Bowman is the name of: *Alexander Bowman (Australian politician) (1838–1892), Australian politician *Alexander Bowman (Irish politician) (1854–1924), Irish politician and trade unionist *Alexander Hamilton Bowman (1803–1865) ...
had stood in North Belfast as an independent labour candidate, supported by the
Belfast Trades Council Belfast Trades Council, also known as Belfast & District Trades Union Council, brings together trade unionists in and around Belfast in Northern Ireland. History The council was founded on 29 October 1881 at a meeting of eleven trade unionists. T ...
. Six Labour candidates were elected to Belfast Corporation in 1897 – the first Labour councillors in Ireland. There continued to be Labour representation on Belfast Corporation up to the 1911 elections when no Labour candidates were returned. The 1920 elections to Belfast Corporation, held in the aftermath of a mass strike wave that gripped Belfast in 1919, saw Labour return with 12 seats after winning over 14% of the vote.
William Walker William Walker may refer to: Arts * William Walker (engraver) (1791–1867), mezzotint engraver of portrait of Robert Burns * William Sidney Walker (1795–1846), English Shakespearean critic * William Walker (composer) (1809–1875), American Bap ...
stood as the Labour candidate in the Belfast North by-election in 1905 coming a close second with 47% of the vote. When the British Labour Party decided not to contest the 1921 elections to the first Northern Ireland Parliament, local party activists independently stood Belfast Labour candidates.


After partition

After the
partition of Ireland The Partition of Ireland () was the process by which the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (UK) divided Ireland into two self-governing polities: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland (the area today known as the R ...
in 1921, the NILP was founded as a
socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
political party by groups such as the
Belfast Labour Party The Belfast Labour Party was a political party in Belfast, Ireland from 1892 until 1924. It was founded in 1892 by a conference of Belfast Independent Labour Party, Independent Labour activists and trade unionists. Labour ran the Ulster Unionis ...
and found its main bed of support amongst
working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...
voters in Belfast. Over 40 delegates attended the founding conference of the Labour Party of Northern Ireland held on 8 March 1924. It initially declined to take a position on the "Border Question" and instead sought to offer itself as an alternative to both nationalism and unionism. In the
1925 Northern Ireland general election The 1925 Northern Ireland general election was held on 3 April 1925. It was the second election to the Parliament of Northern Ireland. It saw significant losses for the Ulster Unionist Party, although they maintained their large majority. Thi ...
, the party won 6% of the total vote and secured three seats in Belfast, including William McMullen elected in Belfast West, as well as
Sam Kyle Samuel Kyle (7 November 1884 – 12 May 1962) was an Irish trade unionist and politician. He was born into a Protestant family at 57 Riga Street in Belfast on 7 November 1884, he was the son of Samuel Kyle, a draper, and Jane Wilson. Kyle join ...
( Belfast North) and
Jack Beattie John Beattie (14 April 1886 – 9 March 1960) was a Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) politician from Northern Ireland. He was a teacher by profession. In 1925, he became a Member of the Northern Ireland House of Commons for Belfast East. ...
( Belfast East); this was the last election for the
Northern Ireland Parliament The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended because of its inability to restore or ...
using the
single transferable vote The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vot ...
system. In 1934, those in the
Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse work ...
who refused a British national directive to disaffiliate from the NILP (in line with the ILP's break with the Labour Party in Britain) formed the
Socialist Party of Northern Ireland The Socialist Party of Northern Ireland, sometimes known as the Northern Ireland Socialist Party, was a small socialist group based in Northern Ireland in the 1930s. Early years The group originated in Belfast in 1892 as the Belfast Labour Par ...
(SPNI). A mainly Protestant organisation, It had about 150 members in the Shankill and
Newtownards Road The A20 is a road in County Down in Northern Ireland. It runs from Belfast to Newtownards and on to Portaferry. Beginning as the Newtownards Road at the junction of Bridge End close to Belfast city centre, the road runs in an easterly directi ...
districts of Belfast, and included
Winifred Carney Maria Winifred "Winnie" Carney (4 December 1887 – 21 November 1943), was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican, a participant in the Easter Rising, 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin, and in Belfast—as a trade union secretary, women's s ...
, Jack Macgougan, secretary from 1935 onwards, and
Victor Halley Victor Halley (15 January 1904 – 24 October 1966) was an Irish trade unionist and socialist in Northern Ireland, who identified the cause of labour with the achievement of an all-Ireland republic. A Presbyterian, Halley was born in 1904 at 19 ...
.Ronaldo Munck and Bill Rolston, ''Belfast in the thirties: an oral history'', p. 147Letting Labour Lead: Jack Macgougan and the Pursuit of Unity, 1913-1958
, ''Saothar'', No. 14
In 1944, with other Protestant trade unionists in west Belfast, Halley joined Nationalist Party dissidents around Harry Diamond, and ex-IRA volunteers in forming the Socialist Republican Party.Matt Merrigan, ''Eagle Or Cuckoo?: The Story of the ATGWU in Ireland'' He stood for the party at the 1946 Belfast Central by-election for the party, but was defeated by
Frank Hanna Frank Hanna may refer to: * Frank Hanna (politician) (1914–1987), Irish politician * Frank Hanna III (born 1960s), American entrepreneur and merchant banker * Frank Hanna (footballer, born 1893) (1893–1967), Australian rules footballer for the C ...
of the NILP by 5,566 to 2,783 votes. The NILP had a Westminster Member of Parliament on only one occasion, when
Jack Beattie John Beattie (14 April 1886 – 9 March 1960) was a Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) politician from Northern Ireland. He was a teacher by profession. In 1925, he became a Member of the Northern Ireland House of Commons for Belfast East. ...
won the 1943 Belfast West by-election, retained the seat in 1945, but lost it in 1950. He regained the seat as an
Irish Labour Party The Labour Party (, ) is a centre-left and social democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. Founded on 28 May 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin, and William O'Brien as the political wing of the Iri ...
candidate in 1951.Bardon, Jonathan, ''A History of Ulster'', p. 523 (The Black Staff Press, Belfast, 1992) In the 1945 election to the Stormont parliament, held in the aftermath of the second world war, the NILP polled 66,503 votes, 18.6% of the total votes cast. In 1949, following the declaration of a Republic in the south, the Northern Ireland Labour Party's conference voted in favour of the Union with
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
. The NILP abandoned its neutral position on the border, adopting a pro-union position that the “Northern Ireland Labour Party will maintain unbroken the connection between Great Britain and Northern Ireland”. Many anti-partition Labour activists drifted out of the NILP and joined the Irish Labour Party. The result was a sharp decline in the party's already limited electoral success, as
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
voters deserted, and the Irish Labour Party attempted to organise in Northern Ireland. An earlier refusal to adopt a pro-union policy had split the party, with leader
Harry Midgley Henry Cassidy Midgley, PC (NI), known as Harry Midgley (1893 – 29 April 1957) was a prominent trade-unionist and politician in Northern Ireland. Born to a working-class Protestant family in Tiger's Bay, north Belfast, he followed his father in ...
forming his own strongly Unionist
Commonwealth Labour Party The Commonwealth Labour Party (CWLP) was a minor political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1942 by Harry Midgley, former leader of the Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP), in order to pursue his brand of labour unionism ...
in 1942. In the 1949 elections to the Stormont Parliament, Labour’s vote fell to 26,831 votes, 7% of the total votes cast. This was a dramatic decline from the 18.5% share of the vote in the 1945 election. Later in the 1950s, the party began to gain ground amongst unionist voters and, after the breakup of the Irish Labour Party's new attempts to organise in Northern Ireland, among some nationalists. The NILP campaign to highlight the failure of the Unionist Government to respond effectively to the growing problem of unemployment led to the NILP attracting more support form both Protestant and Catholic working class voters. In the 1953 elections to the Stormont Parliament the NILP recovered to a 12% share of the vote. The NILP saw its greatest period of success between 1958 and 1965. In
1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...
the party won nearly 16% of the vote. Four NILP MPs were elected to Stormont for Belfast constituencies: Tom Boyd ( Pottinger), Billy Boyd ( Woodvale), Vivian Simpson ( Oldpark), and
David Bleakley David Wylie Bleakley CBE (11 January 1925 26 June 2017) was a Northern Irish politician and peace campaigner. Biography Background Born in the Strandtown district of Belfast, Bleakley worked as an electrician in the Harland and Wolff docky ...
(
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
). The NILP then became the official opposition at Stormont. In the 1962 Stormont elections the NILP won 76,842 votes, over 25% of the total votes cast. In the 1964 UK General Election the NILP polled 102,759 votes – its highest ever popular vote. Success came despite continued divisions over such matters as Sunday Observance – two NILP Belfast councillors voted to close the city's park playgrounds on Sundays (as demanded by hard line
Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...
s but opposed by Catholics) and were expelled as a result. During this period the NILP maintained its pro-union stance. Despite this, the NILP was winning support from the Catholic working class who were voting on “bread and butter” issues.
Paddy Devlin Patrick Joseph Devlin (8 March 1925 – 15 August 1999) was an Irish socialist, labour and civil rights activist and writer from Belfast. He was a founding member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), a Stormont MP and a member o ...
, previously an Irish Labour councillor, joined the NILP in 1958: “the only party that filled my need was the NILP, which was then going from strength to strength. With active trade union backing it was climbing back into the natural position for a local Labour Party: chief challenger of Unionist Party dominance.”


Civil rights

In the early to mid 1960s, the NILP was a leading voice in the calls for civil rights and an end to discrimination. When the
Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA; ) was an organisation that campaigned for civil rights for Irish Catholics in Northern Ireland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Formed in Belfast on 9 April 1967,Paddy Devlin Patrick Joseph Devlin (8 March 1925 – 15 August 1999) was an Irish socialist, labour and civil rights activist and writer from Belfast. He was a founding member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), a Stormont MP and a member o ...
elected to its Executive. But, despite the involvement of many Labour members in the civil rights movement, the NILP felt more comfortable confronting the Unionists at Stormont over civil rights than taking part in the street protests that soon became violent confrontations due to the RUC's brutal enforcement of the state ban on many civil rights marches.


The Troubles

In 1969 the situation in Northern Ireland worsened as the violent response by the RUC and loyalists to the civil rights marches led to the
Battle of the Bogside The Battle of the Bogside was a large three-day riot that took place from 12 to 14 August 1969 in Derry, Northern Ireland. Thousands of Catholic/Irish nationalist residents of the Bogside district, organised under the Derry Citizens' Defence ...
in Derry and sectarian clashes in working class areas of Belfast. The growing sectarian polarisation in working class areas in the late 1960s damaged the NILP’s project of building a Labour alternative to Unionism. However, even by 1970 the NILP was still able to poll nearly 100,000 votes across Northern Ireland in the
UK General Election United Kingdom general elections (elections for the House of Commons) have occurred in the United Kingdom since the first in 1802. The members of the 1801–1802 Parliament had been elected to the former Parliament of Great Britain and Parliame ...
. Any hopes of keeping the cross-community Labour coalition together were damaged by the NILP publicly distancing itself from
Paddy Devlin Patrick Joseph Devlin (8 March 1925 – 15 August 1999) was an Irish socialist, labour and civil rights activist and writer from Belfast. He was a founding member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), a Stormont MP and a member o ...
’s lobbying for action to protect Catholic working class communities. The NILP expelled Paddy Devlin in August 1970 for his links with civil rights politicians who would go on to form the
SDLP The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP; ) is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly ( MLAs) and two members of Parliament (MPs ...
. The NILP also expelled
Eamonn McCann Eamonn McCann (born 10 March 1943) is an Irish political activist, former politician and journalist from Derry, Northern Ireland. McCann was a People Before Profit (PBP) Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Foyle from 2016 to 2017. In ...
, who was chairman of Derry Labour Party, for supporting
Bernadette Devlin Josephine Bernadette McAliskey (née Devlin; born 23 April 1947), usually known as Bernadette Devlin or Bernadette McAliskey, is an Irish civil rights leader and former politician. She served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Ulster in North ...
who had recently been elected as an MP. With the onset of
the Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...
, new parties emerged that appealed to the party's support base, including the
Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP; ) is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly ( MLAs) and two members of Parliament (M ...
(SDLP), the
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 ...
and the
Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist, Ulster loyalism, loyalist, British nationalist and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who ...
. Once again the polarisation of politics around partition deprived the party of a critical mass.


Decline

In 1971 the new
Prime Minister of Northern Ireland The prime minister of Northern Ireland was the head of the Government of Northern Ireland (1921–1972), Government of Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. No such office was provided for in the Government of Ireland Act 1920; however, the L ...
Brian Faulkner Arthur Brian Deane Faulkner, Baron Faulkner of Downpatrick, (18 February 1921 – 3 March 1977), was the sixth and last Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, from March 1971 until his resignation in March 1972. He was also the Chief Executive ...
appointed NILP former Stormont MP
David Bleakley David Wylie Bleakley CBE (11 January 1925 26 June 2017) was a Northern Irish politician and peace campaigner. Biography Background Born in the Strandtown district of Belfast, Bleakley worked as an electrician in the Harland and Wolff docky ...
to his Cabinet as Minister of Community Relations, in an attempt to bring reforms to Northern Ireland. However, the following year the Stormont Parliament was suspended when it resisted the London government request to take over responsibility for public order. In the 1973 referendum on the border, the NILP campaigned for Northern Ireland to remain in the United Kingdom. By 1973 the NILP was in a serious decline with the party only achieving 2.5% of the vote in the local council elections and a similar 2.6% in the Northern Ireland Assembly election. In contrast,
Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...
won 13.7% of votes in the local elections and 9.2% in the Assembly elections, and the
SDLP The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP; ) is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly ( MLAs) and two members of Parliament (MPs ...
achieved its best results so far by polling more than 22% of the votes in the Assembly election. David Bleakley was the only NILP representative elected to the 1973 Assembly and 1975 Forum for East Belfast. The Northern Ireland Labour Party continued to contest elections but with a dwindling support base.
Alan Carr Alan Graham Carr (born 14 June 1976) is an English comedian, broadcaster, and writer. His breakthrough was in 2001, winning the '' City Life'' Best Newcomer of the Year and the BBC New Comedy Awards. In the ensuing years, Carr's career burgeo ...
became its leading figure from the mid-1970s until the early 1980s, by which point it had only about 200 members, and just a single councillor was elected for the party in
1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...
. A party conference in 1983 narrowly failed to secure a necessary two-thirds majority to wind up the party, but it stood no candidates in the
1983 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1983. Africa * 1983 Cameroonian parliamentary election * 1983 Equatorial Guinean legislative election * 1983 Kenyan general election * 1983 Malagasy parliamentary election * 1983 Malawian general elec ...
, its Chairman and Party Secretary having resigned just beforehand, and by the
1985 Northern Ireland local elections Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland on 15 May 1985, contesting 565 seats in all. Background 1981 elections The previous elections had been fought in the middle of the hunger strike and the H-Block Prison Protest. Th ...
, its three candidates received no support from the central body.


Labour '87

In March 1987, the remains of the party merged with the
Labour Party of Northern Ireland The Labour Party of Northern Ireland (LPNI) was the name of two distinct political parties in Northern Ireland, the first formed in 1985 by a group around Paddy Devlin, a former Social Democratic and Labour Party councillor and Northern Irelan ...
(formed in 1985 by former SDLP leader
Paddy Devlin Patrick Joseph Devlin (8 March 1925 – 15 August 1999) was an Irish socialist, labour and civil rights activist and writer from Belfast. He was a founding member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), a Stormont MP and a member o ...
), the
Ulster Liberal Party The Ulster Liberal Party was a liberal and non-sectarian political party in Northern Ireland linked to the British Liberal Party. The party was officially neutral on the constitutional position of Northern Ireland. Members expressed different v ...
and the United Labour Party to form the
Labour '87 The Labour Party of Northern Ireland (LPNI) was the name of two distinct political parties in Northern Ireland, the first formed in 1985 by a group around Paddy Devlin, a former Social Democratic and Labour Party councillor and Northern Irelan ...
group. This group also gained the support of the
Newtownabbey Labour Party The Newtownabbey Labour Party (NLP) is a minor political party based in Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland. It was formed in 1974 as a split from the Northern Ireland Labour Party. It has elected one member to the Newtownabbey Borough Council, Bob K ...
. They contested local elections and Mark Langhammer contested the 1989 European Elections unsuccessfully.Mark Langhammer, Election Results 1989
Elections Ireland


Leadership


Leaders at Stormont

*1925–29: Samuel Kyle *1929–33:
Jack Beattie John Beattie (14 April 1886 – 9 March 1960) was a Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) politician from Northern Ireland. He was a teacher by profession. In 1925, he became a Member of the Northern Ireland House of Commons for Belfast East. ...
*1933–38:
Harry Midgley Henry Cassidy Midgley, PC (NI), known as Harry Midgley (1893 – 29 April 1957) was a prominent trade-unionist and politician in Northern Ireland. Born to a working-class Protestant family in Tiger's Bay, north Belfast, he followed his father in ...
*1938–42: Paddy Agnew *1942–43:
Jack Beattie John Beattie (14 April 1886 – 9 March 1960) was a Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) politician from Northern Ireland. He was a teacher by profession. In 1925, he became a Member of the Northern Ireland House of Commons for Belfast East. ...
*1943–45: Paddy Agnew *1945–49:
Hugh Downey Hugh Downey was a politician in Northern Ireland. Downey was a Roman Catholic and worked as a barman. He joined the Northern Ireland Labour Party and by 1942 was its Vice-Chairman.Graham S. Walker, ''The Politics of Frustration'' At the 1945 N ...
*1949–50: William James Smyth *1958–69: Tom Boyd *1969–73: Vivian Simpson


Chairs

:1924:
Sam Kyle Samuel Kyle (7 November 1884 – 12 May 1962) was an Irish trade unionist and politician. He was born into a Protestant family at 57 Riga Street in Belfast on 7 November 1884, he was the son of Samuel Kyle, a draper, and Jane Wilson. Kyle join ...
:1925: William McMullen :1927: Matthew Courtney :1931: Hugh Gemmell :1932:
Harry Midgley Henry Cassidy Midgley, PC (NI), known as Harry Midgley (1893 – 29 April 1957) was a prominent trade-unionist and politician in Northern Ireland. Born to a working-class Protestant family in Tiger's Bay, north Belfast, he followed his father in ...
:1942:
Jack Beattie John Beattie (14 April 1886 – 9 March 1960) was a Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) politician from Northern Ireland. He was a teacher by profession. In 1925, he became a Member of the Northern Ireland House of Commons for Belfast East. ...
:1943: :1944: William Leeburn :1945: Jack Macgougan :1946: John Boyle :1947:
Robert Getgood Robert Getgood (23 March 1884 – 30 November 1964) was a politician and trade unionist in Northern Ireland. He was born in Ballymacanallen, Co Down, the son of George Getgood, a cobbler, and Eliza Jane Patton. In 1921 he married Annie Thompson. ...
:1947: Henry Holmes :1948:
James Morrow James Morrow (born March 17, 1947) is an American novelist and short-story writer known for filtering large philosophical and theological questions through his satiric sensibility. Most of Morrow's oeuvre has been published as science fiction ...
:1950: :1952: Vivian Simpson :1953: Tom Boyd :1954: Cecil Allen :1955: Saidie Patterson :1956: W. Blair :1957:
David Bleakley David Wylie Bleakley CBE (11 January 1925 26 June 2017) was a Northern Irish politician and peace campaigner. Biography Background Born in the Strandtown district of Belfast, Bleakley worked as an electrician in the Harland and Wolff docky ...
:1958: Andrew Gibson :1959: Robert Bingham :1960: Billy Boyd :1961: :1962:
Charles Brett Sir Charles Edward Bainbridge Brett, KBE, CBE (30 October 1928 – 19 December 2005), was a Northern Irish solicitor, journalist, author and founding member, and first chairman, of the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society (UAHS). He was known ...
:1963: Hugh Waring :1964: Edward Wright :1965: William Gunning :1966: Martin McBirney :1967:
Paddy Devlin Patrick Joseph Devlin (8 March 1925 – 15 August 1999) was an Irish socialist, labour and civil rights activist and writer from Belfast. He was a founding member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), a Stormont MP and a member o ...
:1969: Robert Allen :1970: Brian Anderson :1971:
Erskine Holmes Joseph Erskine Holmes (born February 1940) is a politician in Northern Ireland. Background Holmes was educated at Annadale Grammar School and attended Queen's University Belfast.''The Times Guide to the House of Commons: February 1974'', p.53 He ...
:1972: Brian Garrett :1973: Archie McArdle :1973: Brian Garrett :1974: Jack Barkley :1975: George Chambers :1976: Sandy Scott :1977:
Alan Carr Alan Graham Carr (born 14 June 1976) is an English comedian, broadcaster, and writer. His breakthrough was in 2001, winning the '' City Life'' Best Newcomer of the Year and the BBC New Comedy Awards. In the ensuing years, Carr's career burgeo ...
:1980: Ciaran McAteer :1981: Bob Clarke :1983: William Gunning


Electoral performance


Stormont


Local government


References

{{Authority control 1924 establishments in Northern Ireland 1987 disestablishments in Northern Ireland Defunct political parties in Northern Ireland Defunct social democratic parties in the United Kingdom History of the Labour Party (UK) Labour parties in Northern Ireland Political parties disestablished in 1987 Political parties established in 1924 Social democratic parties in Ireland