Labour will not stand candidates in May’s Northern Ireland Assembly election, in the face of growing calls from activists for the party to contest elections there for the first time in decades.
Currently, Labour supports its sister party the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) in Northern Ireland elections – and if that were to change in time for May 5, a decision would have to have been made by today.
Labour has allowed membership in Northern Ireland since 2003, and reviews its policy towards the non-standing of candidates once every parliament. Plans are currently in place for the NEC to send a delegation to Northern Ireland to meet with relevant people and produce a report with recommendations. This should be completed well before the next general election in 2020.
This comes amid growing pressure from Labour members in Northern Ireland to begin standing candidates. Membership of the Labour Party in Northern Ireland (LPNI) has grown rapidly since last summer, and a motion was passed in December to officially support contesting elections.
This was followed by a petition and a full page advert in the Belfast Telegraph, Northern Ireland’s biggest daily newspaper, with around 2,000 people showing their support over the issue.
But a leaked letter from Labour’s General Secretary Iain McNicol to LPNI indicates that the decision will not be made solely on the basis of members’ views in Northern Ireland.
“We do not stand candidates in Northern Ireland, and [LPNI members are] not empowered to reverse this position,” he wrote.
“Attempts such as this to force the hand of the NEC are unlikely to be looked upon favourably.
“The Northern Ireland [branch] does not have authority to select candidates and must desist from this course of action.”
Were Labour’s position to change, it would likely involve some sort of agreement with both the SDLP and the Irish Labour Party, which are both official sister parties. The Irish Labour Party also does not stand in Northern Irish elections, giving its backing to the SDLP too.
UK Labour’s position has historically been based on a reluctance to intervene in the sectarian aspects of Northern Irish politics, and act as an ‘honest broker’ in peace talks. This idea may be further entrenched following Friday’s bomb attack, for which the ‘New IRA’ claimed responsibility.
Those in favour of the UK Labour Party organising in Northern Irish elections argue that by supporting the SDLP, a nationalist party, the presentation of an ‘honest broker’ is diminished – while Jeremy Corbyn’s recorded past views about unification of Ireland also bring that position into doubt.
It is argued that the party would fare well as an avowedly non-sectarian left-of-centre party in Northern Ireland, and many feel the SDLP do not represent wider Labour views on equality issues.
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