Labour Party of Northern Ireland

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A specimen of the membership card for the Labour Party of Northern Ireland

The Labour Party of Northern Ireland (LPNI) was the name of two distinct political parties in Northern Ireland, the first formed in 1985 by a group around Paddy Devlin, a former Social Democratic and Labour Party councillor and Northern Ireland Assembly member, and Billy Blease, a member of the British House of Lords,^[1] and the second formed by Malachi Curran in 1998.

History

The initial organisation stood several candidates in the 1985 local government elections, none of whom were successful. In 1987, the group merged with the Northern Ireland Labour Party, Ulster Liberal Party and the United Labour Party to form a party known as Labour '87 or Labour Party 1987 with the aim of campaigning for a united Labour Party. This group also gained the support of the Newtownabbey Labour Party. It hoped to build links with the British Labour Party, but this came to nothing.

The group ran unsuccessful candidates in the 1989 local elections and the 1989 European Parliament election, after which the Labour '87 coalition seems to have been dropped. The LPNI survived a little longer, but appears to have dissolved in 1990.^[2]

Launch invitation for the Labour Party 1987

Labour coalition and new LPNI

The next attempt to form a labour organisation in Northern Ireland was the Labour coalition, which won seats on the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996. This split in 1998, and a group around Malachi Curran founded a new "Labour Party of Northern Ireland". This group ran candidates in the Northern Ireland Assembly election, including David Bleakley. Curran stood unsuccessfully in the 2007 Assembly election, coming last. The party was deregistered with the Electoral Commission in 2016.^[3]

References

Political parties in Northern Ireland

MLAs in the Northern Ireland Assembly (90)

Unionist (37)	Democratic Unionist Party (25) Ulster Unionist Party (9) Traditional Unionist Voice (1) Independent (2)
Nationalist (35)	Sinn Féin (27) Social Democratic and Labour Party (8)
Other (18)	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (17) People Before Profit (1)

MPs in the House of Commons (18 of 650)

Councillors in local
unitary authorities (462)

^†Sinn Féin have elected members and offices at Westminster, but as abstentionists do not take their seats.

v t e Defunct political parties of Northern Ireland
Unionist / Loyalist	Commonwealth Labour Party Independent Unionist Association NI21 Northern Ireland Unionist Party Protestant Unionist Party UK Unionist Party Ulster Constitution Party Ulster Democratic Party Ulster Popular Unionist Party Ulster Progressive Unionist Association Ulster Unionist Coalition Party Ulster Unionist Labour Association Unionist Party of Northern Ireland United Ulster Unionist Council United Ulster Unionist Party United Unionist Coalition Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party Volunteer Political Party
Nationalist / Republican	All Ireland Anti-Partition League Federation of Labour Fianna Uladh Irish Anti-Partition League Irish Independence Party Irish Union Association National Democratic Party Nationalist Party National League of the North National Unity Northern Council for Unity Official Sinn Féin People's Democracy Red Republican Party Republican Socialist Collective Saor Éire Socialist Republican Party Unity
Left-wing¹	Belfast Labour Party Communist Party of Ireland (Marxist–Leninist) Communist Party of Northern Ireland Democratic Left Dock Labour Party Independent Labour Group Independent Socialist Party Labour coalition Labour Party of Northern Ireland Labour and Trade Union Group League for a Workers' Republic Northern Ireland Labour Party Republican Labour Party Socialist Labour Alliance Socialist Party of Northern Ireland United Labour Party World Socialist Party
Ulster nationalist	British Ulster Dominion Party Ulster Independence Movement Ulster Independence Party Ulster Movement for Self-Determination Ulster Third Way
Others	Democratic Partnership Natural Law Party Newtownabbey Ratepayers' Association Northern Ireland Women's Coalition Ulster Liberal Party Unbought Tenants' Association
¹ Excluding those left-wing parties avowedly nationalist / republican or unionist / loyalist.

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