List of political parties in Northern Ireland

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List of political parties in Northern Ireland - Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Politics of Northern Ireland
This article is part of a series within the Politics of the United Kingdom on the


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Although Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom, it has a quite distinct party system 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. Party affiliation is generally based on religious and ethnic background.

The Northern Ireland Assembly is elected by single transferable vote and the composition of the Northern Ireland Executive is by power sharing determined by the D'Hondt system, among the members elected to the assembly. Northern Ireland also elects 18 MPs to the House of Commons, and there are elections to 11 local government districts.

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"/"Loyalist" 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, or UK level

Party details

	Founded	Political position	Ideology	Designation	Leader(s)		Local government	Northern Ireland Assembly	House of Commons (NI Seats)	House of Lords
Sinn Féin	1905	Centre-left^[1] to left-wing^[2]	Irish republicanism Democratic socialism Left-wing nationalism	Nationalist		Michelle O'Neill^{[Note 1]}	144 / 462	27 / 90	7 / 18 (abstentionist)	—
Democratic Unionist Party	1971	Right-wing^[3]^[4]	British unionism British nationalism National conservatism Right-wing populism Euroscepticism	Unionist		Gavin Robinson	122 / 462	25 / 90	5 / 18	6 / 779
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland	1970	Centre^[5]	Liberalism^[6]^[7]^[8] Nonsectarianism^[9]^[10] Pro-Europeanism^[11]	Other		Naomi Long	67 / 462	17 / 90	1 / 18	0 / 779 ^{[Note 2]}
Ulster Unionist Party	1905	Centre-right^[12]	British unionism^[13] Conservatism^[13]^[14]	Unionist		Mike Nesbitt	54 / 462	9 / 90	1 / 18	2 / 779
Social Democratic and Labour Party	1970	Centre-left^[15]^[16]	Social democracy^[13] Irish nationalism^[17] Pro-Europeanism^[11]	Nationalist		Claire Hanna	39 / 462	8 / 90	2 / 18	0 / 779 ^{[Note 3]}
Traditional Unionist Voice	2007	Right-wing^[18]	British unionism^[13] National conservatism^[19] Social conservatism^[13] Anti-Good Friday Agreement^[20] Hard Euroscepticism^[21]	Unionist		Jim Allister	10 / 462	1 / 90	1 / 18	—
People Before Profit	2005	Left-wing^[22] to far-left^[23]	Trotskyism^[24] Socialism^[25] Anti-capitalism^[26] Irish reunification^[27]	Other^{[Note 4]}		Richard Boyd Barrett^[28]	2 / 462	1 / 90	—	—
Green Party NI	1985	Centre-left to left-wing	Green politics^[13] Nonsectarianism Pro-Europeanism^[11]	Other		Malachai O'Hara	5 / 462	—	—	—
Progressive Unionist Party	1985	Centre-left^[29]^[30] to left-wing^[30]	British unionism Ulster loyalism Democratic socialism^[31]^[32] Social democracy	Unionist	—	Russell Watton	1 / 462	—	—	—
Northern Ireland Conservatives	1989	Centre-right to right-wing	British unionism Conservatism Economic liberalism	Unionist	—	Paul Leeman	—	—	—	2 / 779
Labour Party in Northern Ireland	2003	Centre-left	Social democracy	Unionist	—	Erskine Holmes	—	—	—	1 / 779
Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats	1988	Centre to centre-left	Liberalism Social liberalism Nonsectarianism Pro-Europeanism	Unionist	—	Stephen Glenn	—	—	—	1 / 779

Party representation

	Representation (as of 3 October 2023)^[33]
	UK Parliament		Assembly	Local councils
	House of Commons	House of Lords	Assembly	Local councils
Sinn Féin	7	0	27	144
Democratic Unionist Party	5	6	25	122
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland	1	0^{[nb 1]}	17	67
Ulster Unionist Party	1	2	9	54
Social Democratic and Labour Party	2	0^{[nb 2]}	8	39
Traditional Unionist Voice	1	0	1	10
People Before Profit	0	0	1	2
Green Party Northern Ireland	0	0	0	5
Progressive Unionist Party	0	0	0	1
Aontú	0	0	0	0
Northern Ireland Conservatives	0	2	0	0
Labour Party in Northern Ireland	0	1	0	0
Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats	0	1	0	0

^ Lord Alderdice, leader of the Alliance from 1987–98, has sat in the Lords since 1996, taking the Lib Dem whip.
^ Margaret Ritchie, leader of the SDLP from 2010–11, has sat in the Lords since 2019, resigning from the party to do so.

Other registered parties

Unionist and loyalist

Party		Founded	Political position	Ideology	Leader(s)
	Heritage Party	2020	Right-wing	Euroscepticism British unionism British nationalism Social conservatism Right-wing populism		David Kurten

Nationalist and republican

	Founded	Political position	Ideology	Leader(s)
Aontú English: Unity	2019	—	Irish republicanism^[34] Social conservatism^[35]		Peadar Tóibín
Communist Party of Ireland Irish: An Páirtí Cumannach na hÉireann	1933 1970 (refoundation)	Far-left	Communism Marxism-Leninism	—	Jimmy Corcoran (General Secretary)
Fianna Fáil English: Warriors of Fál or Soldiers of Destiny^{[Note 5]}	1926	Centre^[38]^[39]^[40] to centre-right^[41]^[42]^[43]	Irish republicanism Conservative liberalism Christian democracy		Micheál Martin
Irish Republican Socialist Party	1974	Far-left	Communism Marxism-Leninism Irish republicanism Dissident republicanism Hard euroscepticism	—	Ard Chomhairle English: National Executive
Republican Network for Unity	2007	Left-wing	Irish republicanism Dissident republicanism Socialism	—	—
Saoradh English: Liberation	2016	Far-left^[44]^[45]	Irish republicanism Dissident republicanism^[46] Revolutionary socialism Hard Euroscepticism^[47] Anti-imperialism	—	Stephen Murney
Workers' Party Irish: An Páirtí na nOibrithe	1970	Far-left	Communism Marxism-Leninism Irish republicanism	—	Collective leadership

Others

Party		Founded	Political position	Ideology	Leader(s)		Notes
	Cross-Community Labour Alternative	2015	Left-wing	Democratic socialism Anti-capitalism Nonsectarianism	—	Owen McCracken	—
	Socialist Party	1996	Left-wing to far-left	Democratic socialism Political radicalism^[48] Trotskyism^[49] Euroscepticism^[50]	—	Collective leadership	—

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.

32 County Sovereignty Movement - Does not contest elections, operates as a pressure group
Anti-Imperialist Action Ireland - Does not contest elections
Republican Sinn Féin (RSF)
National Party
Fine Gael
Reform UK

Inactive parties

Unionist and loyalist

Belfast Labour Party
British Ulster Dominion Party
Commonwealth Labour Party
Independent Unionist Association
Labour Unionist Party
NI21
UKIP Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland Unionist Party - deregistered 2008
Protestant Coalition
Ulster Defence Party* (UDP)
Protestant Unionist Party (evolved into the DUP)
Ulster Constitution Party
Ulster Democratic Party
Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party
Ulster Popular Unionist Party
Ulster Progressive Unionist Association
Ulster Protestant League
Ulster Resistance
Ulster Unionist Labour Association
Unionist Party of Northern Ireland
United Kingdom Unionist Party - deregistered 2008
United Ulster Unionist Council
United Ulster Unionist Party
United Unionist Coalition (UUC)
Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
Volunteer Political Party

Nationalist and Republican

Others

Commonwealth Labour Party
Communist Party of Ireland (Marxist-Leninist)
Communist Party of Northern Ireland
Irish Labour Party (contests elections in the Republic)
Labour coalition
Labour Party of Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland Labour Party
Northern Ireland Women's Coalition
Newtownabbey Labour Party
Newtownabbey Ratepayers Association
Natural Law Party
Social Democratic Party - The post-1988 rump of the party stood in a Northern Ireland by-election in 1990; the party as a whole existed and was more prominent in Great Britain from 1981 to 1988 although the post-1990 rump group still exists.
Ulster Independence Movement
Ulster Liberal Party
Ulster Movement for Self-Determination
United Labour Party (Northern Ireland)
Ulster Third Way - deregistered 2005
Veritas - Dissolved June 2015
Vote for Yourself Party - disbanded April 2009, de-registered 8 June 2009
World Socialist Party (Ireland) - Dissolved in the 1990s

Flowchart of all political parties in Northern Ireland

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 1986–2009
Gerry Adams	35y	Sinn Féin 1983–2018	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
David Ford	15y	Alliance Party 2001–2016	South Antrim
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	Belfast East
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	Belfast East
David Trimble	10y	Ulster Unionist Party 1995–2005	Upper Bann

Notes

^ Although Mary Lou McDonald is the party president, O’Neill serves as vice-president and as First Minister, functions as the party’s leader in Northern Ireland.
^ Lord Alderdice, leader of the Alliance from 1987–98, has sat in the Lords since 1996, taking the Liberal Democrat whip.
^ Margaret Ritchie, leader of the SDLP from 2010–11, has sat in the Lords since 2019 as a Labour peer, resigning from the SDLP to do so.
^ In the Northern Ireland Assembly, the party's MLAs sign the register as "socialist" when asked if they are "unionist" or "nationalist", resulting in an official designation of "Other". However, People Before Profit is in favour of Irish reunification.
^ Since 2007, Fianna Fáil has been officially registered in Northern Ireland, but has not formally fielded any election candidates as of yet, despite members passing motions to at successive árdfheiseanna.^[36] Ógra Fianna Fáil launched cumainn (branches) at QUB and UU in the same year. From 2019 to 2022, it was in partnership with the SDLP.^[37]

References

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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.

v t e Political parties in the United Kingdom
Legislatures of the United Kingdom (and their current compositions)
House of Commons (650)	Labour (404, including 43 Labour Co-op*) Conservative (121) Liberal Democrats (72) SNP (9) Sinn Féin^† (7) DUP (5) Reform (5) Green (E&W) (4) Plaid Cymru (4) SDLP (2) Alliance (1) TUV (1) UUP (1) Independents (13)^‡ Speaker (1)
House of Lords (805)	Conservative (273) Crossbenchers (184) Labour (187) Liberal Democrats (78) DUP (6) UUP (3) Green (E&W) (2) Plaid Cymru (2) Lord Speaker (1) Non-affiliated (43) Independents (1) Lords Spiritual (25)
Scottish Parliament (129)	Scottish National Party (63) Scottish Conservatives (31) Scottish Labour (22) Scottish Greens (7) Scottish Liberal Democrats (4) Alba (1) Presiding Officer (1)
Senedd (60)	Welsh Labour (30) Welsh Conservatives (16) Plaid Cymru (12) Welsh Liberal Democrats (1) Independent (1)
Northern Ireland Assembly (90)	Sinn Féin (27) DUP (24) Alliance (17) Ulster Unionist (9) SDLP (7) Independent Unionists (2) Traditional Unionist Voice (1) People Before Profit (1) Independent Nationalist (1)
London Assembly (25)	London Labour (11) London Conservatives (8) London Greens (3) London Liberal Democrats (2) Reform UK (1)
Other parties	Abolish the Welsh Assembly Animal Welfare Aspire Britain First Christian Peoples Alliance English Democrats Green (NI) Heritage Party Justice & Anti-Corruption Liberal Lincolnshire Independents Propel Reclaim Rejoin EU Social Democratic UKIP Women's Equality Workers Yorkshire
*Co-operative Party candidates stand jointly with the Labour Party. ^‡5 independent MPs work together in the Independent Alliance technical group. ^†Sinn Féin have elected members and offices at Westminster, but as abstentionists do not take their seats.
List of political parties by representation Politics of the United Kingdom

v t e List of political parties in Europe
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States with limited recognition	Abkhazia Kosovo Northern Cyprus South Ossetia Transnistria
Dependencies and other entities	Åland Faroe Islands Gibraltar Guernsey Isle of Man Jersey Svalbard
Other entities	European Union

Categories:

Hidden categories:

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

Party details

Party representation

Other registered parties

Unionist and loyalist

Nationalist and republican

Others

Unregistered parties

Inactive parties

Unionist and loyalist

Nationalist and Republican

Others

Flowchart of all political parties in Northern Ireland

Party leaders

See also

Notes

References