List of political parties in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Northern Ireland

Political parties in Northern Ireland lists political parties in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Assembly uses the D'Hondt system, with numerous parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments. Party affiliation is generally based on religious and ethnic background.

Although Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom, it has a quite distinct political scene from the rest of the country, as the Labour Party and Liberal Democrats do not contest elections there (though the Liberal Democrats have links with the Alliance Party), and the Conservative Party has received only limited support in recent elections.

Some parties, such as Sinn Féin and the Workers' Party, are organised on an all-Ireland basis. Others such as the Conservative Party are organised on an all-United Kingdom basis. There are many Northern Ireland-specific parties and these, on the whole, predominate.

The distinction between "unionist/loyalist", "nationalist/republican" and "other" is not always easy with some parties and individuals. Some have defined themselves less by their position on the "Border Question" than on other political issues.

For example the former Republican Labour Party/Social Democratic and Labour Party MP Gerry Fitt's career suggests he was first and foremost a socialist rather than a nationalist and he eventually left the SDLP claiming it had drifted from its founding intentions. Similarly the Workers' Party has its roots in the republican Official IRA but nowadays is considered to be a non-violent socialist and nationalist party. Several parties strive to be avowedly non-sectarian and would not consider themselves to be either unionist or nationalist. The Northern Ireland Assembly requires MLAs to designate themselves either "Unionist", "Nationalist" or "Other." This is a designation that is particularly resented by those who designate as "Other", as they have no input on who becomes First or Deputy First Minister.

There are some who see the terms "Unionist" and "Nationalist"/"Republican" as being of more relevance to the community that the party seeks to represent rather than the position on the border question. Several of the "Other" parties strive to be non-sectarian but have a clear position on the border.

Political parties with elected representation at a local, national, UK or European level

Party details

Party Current Leader English translation
/ Name in Irish		 Founded Inaugural Leader Ideology Position Designation EP Group
Democratic Unionist Party Arlene Foster 1971 Ian Paisley National conservatism,
Social conservatism,
British unionism		 Right-wing Unionist Non-Inscrits
Sinn Féin Gerry Adams "We Ourselves"[nb 1] 1905 / 1970[nb 2] Arthur Griffith Irish republicanism,
Left-wing nationalism,
Democratic socialism		 Left-wing Republican GUE/NGL
Social Democratic and
Labour Party		 Colum Eastwood Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach
an Lucht Oibre		 1970 Gerry Fitt Social democracy,
Irish nationalism		 Centre-left Republican S&D
Ulster Unionist Party Mike Nesbitt 1905 Edward Saunderson Conservatism,
British unionism		 Centre-right Unionist ECR
Alliance Party of
Northern Ireland		 David Ford 1970 Bob Cooper
Oliver Napier		 Liberalism,
Nonsectarianism		 Centre Other none
Traditional Unionist Voice Jim Allister 2007 Jim Allister British unionism,
Euroscepticism,
Social conservatism		 Right-wing Unionist none
Green Party in Northern Ireland Steven Agnew Comhaontas Glas i dTuaisceart Éireann 1983 none[nb 3] Green politics,
Nonsectarianism		 Left-wing Other Greens/EFA
UK Independence Party Nigel Farage 1993 Alan Sked Euroscepticism,
Right-wing populism,
British unionism		 Right-wing Unionist EFDD
NI21 Basil McCrea 2013 Basil McCrea Ulster unionism,
Progressivism,
Pro-Europeanism		 Centre Unionist[nb 4] none
Progressive Unionist Party Billy Hutchinson 1979 Hugh Smyth British unionism,
Democratic socialism,
Social democracy		 Left-wing Unionist none
People Before Profit Alliance none 2005 none Democratic socialism,
Trotskyism		 Left-wing to Far-left Republican none
  1. ↑ Another common translation, though not literal, is Ourselves Alone.
  2. ↑ The current party known as Sinn Féin broke from the party then known as Sinn Féin in 1970 and was initially commonly referred to as Provisional Sinn Féin.
  3. ↑ For the first twenty eight years of its existence, the Green Party did not have a national leader. Steven Agnew was elected as the first national leader in 2011.
  4. ↑ The party announced before the 2014 local elections that it would redesignate as "Other" after the 2016 Assembly election.

Party representation

Party Representation (as of May 2016)
UK Parliament Assembly European Parliament Local councils
House of Commons House of Lords
Democratic Unionist Party 8 3 38 1 125
Sinn Féin 4 0 28 1 105
Social Democratic and Labour Party 3 0 12 0 63
Ulster Unionist Party 2 2 16 1 89
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland 0 0 8 0 32
Traditional Unionist Voice 0 0 1 0 13
Green Party in Northern Ireland 0 0 2 0 3
UK Independence Party 0 0 0 0 2
NI21 0 0 0 0 0
Progressive Unionist Party 0 0 0 0 4
People Before Profit Alliance 0 0 2 0 1

    Other registered parties

    Unionist and loyalist

    Nationalist and republican

    Others

    Unregistered parties

    Candidates for unregistered parties may choose either to be listed as "Non-Party", or to leave the section blank on the ballot paper, in the same manner as independent candidates.

    Inactive parties

    Unionist and loyalist

    Nationalist and Republican

    Communist

    Others

    Party leaders

    Party leaders serving 10 years or more are

    Leader Years Party/Period Constituency
    Ian Paisley 42y Protestant Unionist Party 1966–1971
    Democratic Unionist Party 1971–2008     		Bannside, North Antrim
    Ruairí Ó Brádaigh 36y Sinn Féin 1970–1983
    Republican Sinn Féin 1986–present
    Gerry Adams 31y Sinn Féin 1983–present West Belfast, Louth
    William Norton 28y Irish Labour 1932–1960
    Tomás Mac Giolla 26y Sinn Féin 1962–1970
    Official Sinn Féin 1970–1977
    Sinn Féin The Workers Party 1977–1982
    Workers' Party 1982–1988
    Hugh Smyth 23y Progressive Unionist Party 1979–2002
    John Hume 22y Social Democratic and Labour Party 1979–2001 Foyle
    Albert McElroy 19y Ulster Liberal Party 1956–1975 (?)
    Lord Craigavon 19y Ulster Unionist Party 1921–1940 Down, North Down
    John Redmond 18y Irish Parliamentary Party 1900–1918 Waterford City
    Lord Brookeborough 17y Ulster Unionist Party 1946–1963 Lisnaskea
    James Molyneaux 16y Ulster Unionist Party 1979–1995 South Antrim, Lagan Valley
    Joseph Devlin 16y Nationalist Party 1918–1934 Belfast Falls, Fermanagh and Tyrone, Belfast Central
    Gerry Fitt 15y Republican Labour Party 1964–1970
    Social Democratic and Labour Party 1970–1979     		Belfast West, Belfast Dock
    James Kilfedder 15y Ulster Popular Unionist Party 1980–1995 North Down
    Margaret Buckley 13y Sinn Féin 1937–1950
    Robert McCartney 13y UK Unionist Party 1995–2008 North Down
    James McSparran 13y Nationalist Party 1945–1958 Mourne
    Oliver Napier 12y Alliance Party 1972–1984
    Thomas Joseph Campbell 11y Nationalist Party 1934–1945 Belfast Central
    Sir Edward Carson 11y Ulster Unionist Party 1910–1921 Dublin University, Belfast Duncairn
    John Alderdice 11y Alliance Party 1987–1998
    David Trimble 10y Ulster Unionist Party 1995–2005 Upper Bann

    See also

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