Colum Eastwood new leader of the SDLP (updated with interview)
NEW LEADER Colum Eastwood is new leader of the SDLP. Fearghal McKinney the new deputy leader.
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Alasdair McDonnell’s lunchtime speech as SDLP leader – renewal and rebuilding #sdlp15
RENEWAL & REBUILDING – Alasdair McDonnell’s lunchtime speech to SDLP conference. His last speech as leader? Or the speech of his life that would sway undecided voters and help him pull ahead of Colum Eastwood?
SDLP15: A party more committed to its internal divisions than to doing what it needs to do
END GAME: The run in to the next election may have been an utterly stupid time to choose a new leader. And there is every possibility that McDonnell is being conveniently scapegoated to cover the sins of the party’s old guard. But there are more than that old guard quietly backing Eastwood.
LIVE blog for the SDLP Conference and Leadership election…
CONFERENCE LIVE: You can follow today’s proceedings of today’s SDLP conference and leadership election results in our CoverItLive live blog. David and Alan and other selected tweeters will keep you up to date with news and interviews, the leader’s speech at 12pm and finally the details of the results at 5pm.
#sdlp15 Dolores Kelly reaches out hand to UUP while Rev Norman Hamilton urges more effort around reconciliation
RECONCILIATION RULES – Deputy SDLP leader Dolores Kelly reaches out from Progressive Nationalism to Progressive Unionism suggests bilateral talks with UUP, while visiting Rev Norman Hamilton reminds party about reconciliation and points to need for further efforts.
Tomorrow YOU are elected SDLP leader. What are the first 3 things you do?
FANTASY LEADER: So you are leader for the foreseeable future of the SDLP. What policies would you change? Would you go into opposition? How would you change the party? Share your ideas with us in the comments.
SDLP leadership Conference: What to expect
The SDLP will meet in Armagh this weekend to elect a new leadership team. This brings to an end one of the quietest leadership contests in our history. The conference will have roughly 315 voting delegates and assuming the all turn up, that means the winning post will be 158+. What’s interesting though is that since 2010 there has been a decline in the number of voting delegates at the party conference. In the 2010 leadership election between Alasdair McDonnell and …
The questions the SDLP has avoided asking for 15 years can be avoided no longer.
NEW McATEER TEST: The SDLP membership needs to get real. No, it doesn’t have a messaging problem. It has an actual problem: What problem does the SDLP solve?
You don’t have to be a nationalist to join the SDLP…
A few weeks ago, I renewed my SDLP membership for 2015. Yes, late in the year, but that way I was able to canvass for Naomi Long in May and not feel conflicting loyalties. A little pharisaic, I know, but it worked for my conscience! Seriously though, I don’t think changing loyalties should really be that surprising in this political climate. Voting or campaigning for a progressive voice has always been most important to me, and that has sometimes meant …
SDLP internal report predicts up to 5 seats under threat.
From John Manley at the Irish News The Irish News has seen an internal report from the SDLP predicting up to 5 seats are under threat with seats in South Belfast, Upper Bann and West Belfast likely to fall to parties like People Before Profit and Sinn Fein. It forecasts that the party will hold its seats in the strongholds of Foyle and South Down, where it has three and two MLAs respectively. However, in Alasdair McDonnell’s Westminster constituency of …
Seamus Mallon backs Colum Eastwood
From John Manley in today’s Irish News; Just over two weeks out from the crucial leadership vote, the one-time Newry and Armagh MP said he believed the Foyle MLA could unite the SDLP and end the “stagnation and negativity” that he believes has beset the party in recent years. Mr Eastwood (32) launched his bid to unseat SDLP leader Alasdair McDonnell last month. In the wake of May’s general election a host of party grandees and current representatives called for …
An SDLP members writes about why he is voting Colum Eastwood for leader…
As the SDLP conference approaches all members will be taking stock of the SDLP leadership and the shape of Irish politics throughout Ireland. Many SDLP members like myself will reflect on the recent council and assembly elections and come to the conclusion that change is needed. Having slumped in electoral fortunes to the levels of the 1970’s compared to 1998 for the SDLP to be effective the electoral decline needs to be reversed. To continue as the status quo would …
Eastwood “I don’t know about you but I’m fed up losing! It’s time we started winning again”
Colum Eastwood launched his campaign to become SDLP leader at The Hive in the centre of Belfast last night. An audience of over 200 people gathered from across Northern Ireland to hear Colum make his first official pitch to oust Alasdair McDonnell as the leader of the party. In attendance were some of the party’s well known faces such as Alex Attwood, Dolores Kelly and Brid Rodgers and Claire Hanna. Others like John Dallat and Mark Durkan couldn’t be at the launch but …
“a considerable proportion of their members are still bound by the secrecy oath they swore when they joined the IRA”
Sinn Fein pulled an initial blinder last night: one, by not turning up for the Nolan Show and letting Gregory Campbell explain the nuances of the Panel Report all on his own; and two getting the host Stephen Nolan read out their key messages on their behalf. However, in the longer run not speaking about it, leave the field open to your opponents to define the ground on which this issue gets unpacked. The problematic linking of ongoing IRA criminality …
DUP and Sinn Fein vote down Jim Allister’s SPAD bill
Jim Allister is back with a SPAD bill (not that one) this piece of legislation would have placed a cap on pay and the number of SPADs that can be employed. Northern Ireland currently spends over £2 million per year on SPADs which is double the cost of Scotland and three times that of Wales. A few months ago Jim Allister wrote for Slugger setting out his case for reform of the system. Alas it appears that business as usual …
Nationalist reps offer sceptical welcome for new Loyalist Community Council
Responses to the new Loyalist Community Council came in quickly from both the SDLP and Sinn Fein. There is a general consistency between both parties as they initially welcomed the approach towards democracy and peace but sceptical about some of the aims. First up the SDLP’s Claire Hanna (bits in bold added by me to emphasis areas of concern); Any genuine attempt to move paramilitary gangs away from violence is to be cautiously welcomed but there is something worrying about formalising and co-opting these organisations in order …
Exclusive: SDLP’s Karen McKevitt will not contest next Assembly election
Whatever is going on in the undergrowth of wider party Slugger hears an interesting whisper from South Down, where we understand that sitting SDLP MLA Karen McKevitt has made it known she will not be seeking re-election in the next Assembly election. It’s thought that the daughter of former SDLP MLA PJ Bradley, Sinead, will stand in her stead. It’s also considered likely that Downpatrick based (and former shortlisted Slugger Awardee) Colin McGrath will stand in the north of the constituency alongside …
For now, change may be enough for the SDLP…
Tom Kelly not, I think, quite sitting on the SDLP fence… It should be remembered that when Margaret Ritchie led the SDLP into the 2010 Westminster elections the SDLP share of the vote was 16.5%, but at the recent general election that share was reduced to 13.5%. That 3% difference may seem small but in the forthcoming elections it could be the difference between the SDLP holding 16 Assembly seats or 12. Ritchie was hounded and criticised for her media …
#SluggerReport – We have to talk about the SDLP…
DROPPING THE PILOT? The SDLP remains alive. That’s pretty much its greatest achievement in the post Belfast Agreement era. Either leadership contender would face an acid test of their leadership within months. The fate of incumbent and insurgent may rest with former leader Margaret Ritchie, who could end up as king maker.
Cartoon – “The Doctor will see me now…”
Following a gaff by SDLP leader Alasdair McDonnell speculation arose about a leadership challenge from the Derry MLA Colum Eastwood. This has since been confirmed by the former mayor. Alasdair remains bullish and defiant, counting Fergal McKinney as a indefatigable supporter, raising the tempo for the contest ahead. Brian SpencerBrian is a writer, artist, political cartoonist and legal blogger. Actively tweeting from @brianjohnspencr. More information here: http://www.brianjohnspencer.com/ www.brianjohnspencer.com/