Thursday, October 29, 2009
The new leaders most important question: “What is the SDLP for?
Excellent analysis from Brian Feeney on the dilemma faced by whomever wins the leadership of the SDLP. Whichever way it goes, if the winner does not find an answer to the question of ‘what is the SDLP for, the very first open leadership election in the 39 year old history of the party may be its last:
The technicalities of the election aside, the new leader faces serious problems, the first of which is the average age of party members and elected representatives. The SDLP seems to have frozen about 25 years ago, around the time of the Anglo-Irish Agreement.
Incredibly, Mark Durkan - the outgoing leader at 49 - is their youngest MLA. Margaret Ritchie is 51 and Alasdair McDonnell 60.
Compare David Cameron (43) or Brian Cowen (49). There’s something wrong with a party whose current leader is its youngest MLA.
There are no visible young figures in the party. Yes, they do have a few young councillors, but none has developed a political profile. None is an obvious candidate for stardom.
Finally, policy. What does the SDLP want now that the Good Friday Agreement has been achieved?
They exude an attitude of entitlement and bitterness, forgetting that voters don’t care about past achievements.
The leading figures spend their time attacking Sinn Fein’s policies. When John Hume was leader everyone knew what the SDLP wanted. They were sick hearing him repeating it. What does the new SDLP leader want? Can either McDonnell or Ritchie enunciate a separate identity for the SDLP, look to the future, carve out a path to follow that will not only enthuse members but attract new young recruits?
Failing that, this leadership election will be the last.
For me that’s the bottom line issue for the party, but Feeney touches on important top line conditions in this particular contest:
She [Ritchie] is the safe, establishment candidate. She will rock no boats. She threatens no one in the SDLP.
The same can’t be said for McDonnell who believes some people in the SDLP need threatened. He’s a firm believer that in political parties hot air rises and dead wood floats and that, if there isn’t change, the SDLP will submerge under the weight of that dead wood.
Where will he get his support if Ritchie holds on to the big branches?
Mick Fealty @ 09:04 AM
The question is what is the SDLP’s political narrative?
Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 10:48 AMWhen SF abandoned traditional physical force republicanism and moved to constitutional nationalism based on the principle of consent it was always going to happen that there was no need or room for two constitutional nationalist parties.
Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 10:59 AM‘Question is’ has asked the most important question and Brit has made highlighted the most pertinent point.
No mention has been made in this post of the intention of the Conservative / UUP allicance to compete for catholic voters who are natural conservatives. If the SDLP do not perceive them as future a threat to their core vote, they are making a big mistake.
If either candidate is going to light bonfires he/she must do it in this leadership election campaign. The SDLP does not just need a new leader. It needs a leader who bring them down a new path and create a new political niche for their party.
If they stay in their present position, they are doomed.
Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 11:29 AMI think Feeney’s analysis of what the two candidates represent hits the nail squarely on the head.
The big question that northern nationalism outside the SDLP membership will be looking to see is: is the SDLP ready for change (McDonnell) or is it going to be business as usual (Rithcie)?
Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 11:32 AM“No mention has been made in this post of the intention of the Conservative / UUP allicance to compete for catholic voters who are natural conservatives”
Seymour Major - What planet are you living on?
Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 11:37 AMCan pretty much all nationalist/republican parties on the Island of Ireland get away with pretending to be left or slighter further left of centre.
God knows what Fine Gael are except perennialy Hopeless.
If you cannot out score the bunch of gangsters/thieves/incompetents that Mafios fianna fáil in a depression then really you should commit Hari Kari.Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 11:41 AMRitchies support isn’t in the big branches, its in the people close to Durkan and his advisors who feel they’ve been done out of a job by those who wanted real leadership in the party and those who were sick of the Durkan malaise.
If they want a new team that’ll actually win seats, then they need McDonnell. He’s been actively supporting young firebrands who are aiming to win seats for the party across the North, most importantly in Belfast, where the Stoops have fallen into an almost irrepairable state thanks to the Attwood Bros.
I’ve said it here on Slugger before, if the Stoops thought about who the Unionists and Provos wouldn’t want as leader, they’d vote en masse for McDonnell, a candidate who’s given the Unionists several kicks in the teeth in South Belfast and who wasn’t afraid to stand up to Maskey’s band of misfits over the McCartney murder.
Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 12:03 PMIf they move away from a Social Democratic and Labour position then Labour will be more likely to enter, which is perhaps a reason not to move away from Labour values.
Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 12:21 PMnobody has answered the question yet, what is the SDLP for?
Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 12:26 PMBoris, you said ‘He’s been actively supporting young firebrands who are aiming to win seats for the party across the North, most importantly in Belfast’.
Who are these young firebrands. I’m not aware of any up and coming youngsters backed by Alasdair. Can you provide a list of names of the future stars?
Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 12:56 PMBrian Feeney’s analysis is all the more telling as for once, it’s largely free from spleen and personal axe-grinding. Under STV and the current 108 members, a role for a second nationalist party is going a -begging. The excessive personal rivalry in the party suggests lack of common purpose. The original SDLP had bigger egos and a city v country split,(socialists vs school teacher nationalists I seem to remember) but bigger purposes. Today’s SDLP should stop writing themselves off and wingeing so much about SF/DUP stitch-ups. With such serious splits between the top two parties, this just isn’t convincing. And no more mini-me to Sinn Fein, please. There is absolutely no need to write the SDLP off unless they do it themselves. Guff like “rolling our sleeves up” isn’t enough. Policy leadership is now essential. Better organisation won’t do it for them, it never does in politics. They need Big Ideas to build momentum. The door is open, SF is thrown by the fact of devolution and lacks direction. Mark Durkan, good man in many ways, was a disappointment because although he was/is clever and more interested in policy than any other party leader, he bogged himself down in detail as an excuse for failing to give enough firm leads. At 49, he remains the peerless researcher. Mark may now make a bigger contribution, free of the burden. I hope so. I suggest the would- be leader comes out a raft of ideas that would leave the others behind, based on accepting the Ashdown report and getting on with devolution based on a vigorous approach to a shared future; a process for ending the 11 plus deadlock (I see a glimmer of effort there with the UUP); realistic local tax and spend measures that face reality and stop hankering after FDI nirvana; seeking cross community alliances at Assembly and council level that put pressure on the DUP and SF but without undue antagonism; and practical measures to breathe life into the cross border institutions. Try putting flesh on the bones of an Agreed Ireland than thrash around for an unattainable united one. With all their wealth of knowledge in N and W Belfast where is their programme of integrated practical policing and community development? It’s this sort of stuff we need to hear more from them, not the old neuroses.
Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 01:02 PMShouldn’t that be The new leader’s most important question, not leaders?
Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 01:07 PM‘nobody has answered the question yet, what is the SDLP for?
To provide a continuing supply of nice middle class catholics and nationalists for the DUP & UUP & TUV to walk on, chew up or piss on whenever the sectarian urge needs an outlet . Not a safe thing to try when said RC happens to be SF .
Lisburn Council is just one example of how Unionism can be when it has a choice .Uionist spots haven’t changed no matter what the Tories may try to impugn . It matters not a whiff be the spots UUP or DUP or the new ‘dinosaur’ of Unionism the TUV:( .
There is a ‘price’ for being perceived as a nice ‘nationalist ’ or catholic politician in Northern Ireland . To put it bluntly -you get little enough respect from most of your own side and little or none at all from the unionist side . Think Gerry Fitt - Austin Currie -Seamus Mallon and Mark Durkan . John Hume did a little better becuae of his ‘international ’ reputation.I think Margaret Ritchie is an effective Minister but she’s far too nice a person to lead the SDLP . At a recent election can’t recall which one but she was elected and before she started to speak the assembled ‘Unionists’ tramped off the stage presumably as a mark of respect ?. Margaret did not bat an eyelid and made her thank you speech . What she should have done of course was to shout at the backs of departing Unionist backs something along the lines of ’ ‘and don’t come back you shower of orange ’ or some such .
She’d be a shoo in for leader had she done so .
But in present times it may be better to have a less mannerly and more brusque leader if for nothing else than it might and I repeat might just ‘prevent ’ SF from claiming the FM position following the next Assembly election . For those who aspire to a longer life span for the NI Assembly ( I don’t) -the election of SF to the FM position could be the ‘end of the road’ for the experiment .
Ritchie will simply be unable to do more than manage the decline of the party as we see with the UUP . Unlike the UUP who have been thrown a temporary life line by the Conservatives there is nobody to throw a similar line to the SDLP . FF are beset on all sides in the Republic and are mostly preoccupied with trying to swim to the nearest political life buoy to save their own skins . The idea of risking their own necks to save the SDLP or anybody else would be an entirely foreign ideology to the fat and out of condition soldiers of destiny .
Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 01:10 PMLapsed Stoop,
Watch his campaign develop, watch the people who come out of the Woodwork to support him, they’ll be young and energetic.
Take a look at his South Belfast staff, the majority of whom are over 30.
Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 01:29 PMLast post should have of course read, under 30, and no, it wasn’t a fraudian slip
Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 01:30 PMPresumably the second most important question is: “What is an apostrophe for when one isn’t a greengrocer?”
Greenflag
I think Margaret Ritchie is an effective Minister but she’s far too nice a person to lead the SDLP.
I can’t believe you’re saying this! But I know what you mean. I had cause to visit the SDLP offices in Downpatrick when Margaret was “doing for” the “fat and out of condition” Eddie McGrady. I sensed even then that she was punching far below her weight.
Your point apropos of Sinn Fein is well made. I can see how Richie is more like the courteous Seamus Mallon than Durkan is. And I think: Why not? Anything is better than the present Assembly arrangement, with thugs and thugesses holding the reins.
Who votes for such people, and how can they confront themselves in the looking-glass of a morning?
Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 01:46 PMBrian
Pretty comprehensive list of what ‘liberal Unionists’ want the SDLP stand for ie accepting partition and getting on with it? Any idea what the people who might actually vote for the SDLP want the party to stand for?
Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 02:11 PMDec, an intengrated policing and community plan? A shared future? just liberal unionism eh? Offer your own ideas. Might they be negative by any chance?
Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 02:22 PMThis will either be the final nail in the coffin or the throne for the SDLP. Both candidates need to get together and work out a solution. They are about to split the party asunder, and then the Shinners will likely take the FM at the next assembly.
Other options include the early move of FF north
The residue of the SDLP could become either Irish Labour or FF. Now that would be a really interesting scenario.
Personally, I believe the SDLP should remain an grow. I prefer ‘Hot Air’ to ‘Dead Wood’. The safe option will continue the status quo which is currently a gentle slope towards oblivion. If the hot air fails, then it will be quicker execution but at least there is a chance that it will succeed and refloat the party.
All this take about visions etc. are nice, but it will be hard work towards a new agenda which will stimulate the voters back
Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 02:35 PMBoris, I didn’t ask about his staff or his supporters in the woodwork. I asked for the identities of these young firebrands you say he is lining up for seats in Belfast. Are we allowed to know? It’s hardly going to raise their profile if we don’t know who they are. What’s the big secret?
Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 02:37 PMBoris
“Ritchies support isn’t in the big branches…”
This is totally incorrect. In fact the opposite is the case.
Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 02:43 PMAlisdair has done nothing but disencourage young people from politics and has never had an interest to try to engage young people. Unless your over 50, unfortunately you cannot be part of “Als Club.” Doctors and salaries over £50,000 only welcome!
Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 02:46 PM“If they move away from a Social Democratic and Labour position then Labour will be more likely to enter, which is perhaps a reason not to move away from Labour values”.
I think that would be a receipe for inertia. Clearer battle lines could be drawn if a McDonnell lead SDLP broke the link with the Labour Parties (letting go of the small Labour minded wing) and stuck out more agressively on a centre/centre-right agenda.
Fianna Fail and the Alliance Party are now sister parties and the SDLP moving onto that territory might well give them a platform to strike out to the many stay at home middle class ex-SDLP voters, and the near lost “Green SDLP” wing and simultaneously neutralise and colonise these rivals.
There is no quick fix for the SDLP, but you would be inclined to think whoever the SDLP’s establishment fears is probably the better candidate
Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 02:48 PMBrian
Dec, an intengrated policing and community plan? A shared future? just liberal unionism eh? Offer your own ideas. Might they be negative by any chance?
The thing is, by “Shared Future” Brian, you mean, “accepting partition and getting on with it” see:
Try putting flesh on the bones of an Agreed Ireland than thrash around for an unattainable united one.
“an intengrated policing and community plan?” - perhaps you are advising the SDLP to tell the Catholic middle class that they are going to gut their schools? That they are jumping into bed with a CUMBLA that is you know, um, conserative? A vigorous embrace of what the DUP wants on parading? Telling a lot of civil servcie employees they are cutting their jobs and aren’t even going to attract some FDI to take up the slack?
Dec’s point is perfectly valid. They need to address some of those issues but they need to do so in a joined up manner and balance pain with potential benefits elsewhere. They need some eye catching ideas - how about moving schools towards a digital world and give every kid in secondary education a laptop? Progressive, reflects the way the world is, nevermind going and offers various opportunities for learning and innovation and shouldn’t actually cost too much if you consider the price of a netbook these days and the potential for eBooks. They need to stop looking weak.
They also need to have some kind of joined up all Ireland strategy that amkes them relevant and believable as a vehicle towards unity. I know by reading this site you’d be convinced no one cares, but the death of nationalism is still somewhat short of happening.
Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 02:56 PMDec, an intengrated policing and community plan? A shared future? just liberal unionism eh? Offer your own ideas. Might they be negative by any chance?
Depends whether or not you think being a strident Nationalist party is negative -( I assume you do given your reference to thrashing around for an unattainable United Ireland)? There seems to be a pretty good opportunity for the SDLP to at least attempt to retain the mantle of the main Nationalist party especially when SF’s current strategy appears to be leading the Nationalist community back to the ‘good old days’ of Brookeborough’s 1950’s.
However maybe your thesis that they should morph into the Alliance Party and not frighten any Unionist horses, is the correct one.Posted by on Oct 29, 2009 @ 03:08 PM
