Colum Eastwood elected new SDLP leader

Northern Ireland’s Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) elected Colum Eastwood as its new leader this weekend.

The sister party of UK Labour, who do not stand candidates in Northern Ireland, voted for Eastwood to replace incumbent Alasdair McDonnell by a margin of 56% to 44% at their conference in Armagh.

At 32, Eastwood is the youngest member of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the SDLP’s youngest ever leader. McDonnell, who has been leader since 2011, stepped down as a Stormont MLA in June to concentrate on his role as a Westminster MP, and Eastwood announced he would launch a challenge for the leadership two months ago.

Speaking after the announcement of the result, Eastwood said:

“From this moment on, our main conversation, our principle conversation, will be with the people. Our principle conversation will be about shaping this region, about shaping this country for the next 20, 30 and more years.”

The new leader faces a big challenge. Stormont remains in the throes of a political crisis, while the SDLP are headed for an expected to face another hammering at the ballot box in next May’s Assembly elections. Some believe that Eastwood, who has previously served as Mayor of Derry, will see the party take a more left wing platform.