Colum Eastwood | |
|---|---|
 Eastwood in 2023 | |
| Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party | |
| In office 14 November 2015 – 5 October 2024 | |
| Deputy | Fearghal McKinney Nichola Mallon |
| Preceded by | Alasdair McDonnell |
| Succeeded by | Claire Hanna |
| Member of Parliament forFoyle | |
| Assumed office 12 December 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Elisha McCallion |
| Majority | 4,166 (10.9%) |
| Member of the Legislative Assembly forFoyle | |
| In office 5 May 2011 – 12 December 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Pól Callaghan |
| Succeeded by | Sinead McLaughlin |
| Mayor of Derry | |
| In office June 2010 – June 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Paul Fleming |
| Succeeded by | Maurice Devenney |
| Member of Derry City Council | |
| In office 5 May 2005 – 22 May 2014 | |
| Preceded by | William O'Connell |
| Succeeded by | Council abolished |
| Constituency | Shantallow |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1983-04-30)30 April 1983 (age 42) Derry, Northern Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Party | Social Democratic and Labour Party |
| Spouse | |
| Domestic partner | Louise Haigh |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | St Columb's College |
| Alma mater | University of Liverpool (did not graduate) |
Colum Eastwood (born 30 April 1983)[1] is anIrish nationalist politician who served asLeader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) from 2015 to 2024. He has served as theMember of Parliament (MP) forFoyle since 2019, served in theNorthern Ireland Assembly from 2011 to 2019 and served onDerry City Council from 2005 to 2011.
Eastwood was first elected to theNorthern Ireland Assembly in 2011 and was re-elected in 2016 and 2017. He was also the SDLP candidate at the2019 European Parliament election to representNorthern Ireland.[2] In December 2019 he was elected to theBritish House of Commons as theMember of Parliament (MP) forFoyle.
Eastwood was born inDerry, where he was educated at St John's Primary School (Creggan) and atSt Columb's College. He later attended theUniversity of Liverpool, where he studied Latin American Studies though he did not finish his degree.[3]
Eastwood joined theSDLP in 1998 at age 14 to campaign for theGood Friday Agreement. He "was drawn to the party byHume,Seamus Mallon and the other political giants of that time that fundamentally changed politics across the island."[4]
He was elected toDerry City Council in 2005 aged 22, and elected for a one-year term asMayor of Derry in June 2010. Aged 27, he was the youngest mayor of the city to date.[5]
Following his election to theNorthern Ireland Assembly in May 2011, Eastwood was appointed SDLP representative on the committee of the Office of theFirst Minister and deputy First Minister. He sat on the Northern Ireland Assembly committees on Standards and Privileges, and the Environment and was appointed to the post of Assembly Private Secretary to the Minister of the EnvironmentAlex Attwood in 2010.
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | ||||||
| DUP | William Hay | 18.4 | 7,154 | |||||||||
| Sinn Féin | Martina Anderson | 17.9 | 6,950 | |||||||||
| SDLP | Mark H. Durkan | 12.8 | 4,970 | 5,832 | 5,484 | 5,794 | ||||||
| Sinn Féin | Raymond McCartney | 9.4 | 3,638 | 3,642 | 3,904 | 4,044 | 4,102 | 4,116 | 6,245 | |||
| SDLP | Colum Eastwood | 7.6 | 2,967 | 3,069 | 3,101 | 3,403 | 5,377 | 5,501 | 5,563 | |||
| SDLP | Pat Ramsey | 8.1 | 3,138 | 3,683 | 3,717 | 4,089 | 4,554 | 4,626 | 4,876 | |||
| People Before Profit | Eamonn McCann | 8.0 | 3,120 | 3,209 | 3,255 | 3,587 | 3,698 | 3,720 | 3,916 | |||
| Sinn Féin | Paul Fleming | 6.7 | 2,612 | 2,616 | 3,434 | 3,503 | 3,607 | 3,615 | ||||
| SDLP | Pól Callaghan | 6.8 | 2,624 | 2,691 | 2,730 | 2,891 | ||||||
| Independent | Paul McFadden | 3.3 | 1,280 | 1,336 | 1,353 | |||||||
| Alliance | Keith McGrellis | 0.9 | 334 | 621 | 621 | |||||||
| Independent | Terry Doherty | 0.2 | 60 | 79 | 82 | |||||||
| Electorate: 68,663 Valid: 38,847 Spoilt: 839 (2.11) Quota: 5,550 Turnout: 57.80 | ||||||||||||
In 2012 he drew criticism fromUnionists includingJim Allister after carrying the coffin at the paramilitary funeral of a formerIrish National Liberation Army member in Derry. A maskedReal Irish Republican Army gunman fired a volley of shots over the coffin, although Eastwood stated he was not present at the time of the gunfire. He defended his attendance at the funeral saying the deceased was a personal friend and added "I wasn't concerned at the time about who was standing beside me, or about what flag or otherwise was draped over the coffin."[6][7] It later emerged that party colleagueMark H. Durkan also attended the funeral.[8]
On 14 November 2015, Eastwood contested theleadership election held at the SDLP's annual conference. He beat the incumbent,Alasdair McDonnell, by 172 votes to 133.[9] Eastwood was re-elected to the NI Assembly in 2016 and 2017, receiving 5,000 and 7,240 first preference votes, respectively.[10]
2016
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||||
| DUP | Gary Middleton | 11.9 | 4,737 | 4,770 | 4,772 | 6,641 | |||||
| Sinn Féin | Raymond McCartney | 8.1 | 3,198 | 3,220 | 3,270 | 3,271 | 3,274 | 5,676 | |||
| SDLP | Mark H. Durkan | 10.6 | 4,197 | 4,268 | 4,395 | 4,527 | 4,744 | 4,801 | 6,905 | ||
| SDLP | Colum Eastwood | 12.6 | 5,000 | 5,069 | 5,111 | 5,217 | 5,376 | 5,401 | 5,804 | ||
| Sinn Féin | Martin McGuinness | 12.7 | 5,037 | 5,070 | 5,168 | 5,175 | 5,176 | 5,656 | 5,712 | ||
| People Before Profit | Eamonn McCann | 10.5 | 4,176 | 4,354 | 4,551 | 4,635 | 4,720 | 4,779 | 4,927 | 5,394 | |
| Independent | Dr. Anne McCloskey | 8.6 | 3,410 | 3,484 | 3,683 | 3,754 | 3,832 | 3,886 | 3,974 | 4,227 | |
| SDLP | Gerard Diver | 6.8 | 2,700 | 2,743 | 2,797 | 2,974 | 3,239 | 3,249 | |||
| Sinn Féin | Maeve McLaughlin | 7.7 | 3,062 | 3,072 | 3,114 | 3,114 | 3,114 | ||||
| UUP | Julia Kee | 3.6 | 1,420 | 1,477 | 1,484 | ||||||
| Independent | Maurice Devenney | 3.0 | 1,173 | 1,190 | 1,213 | ||||||
| Independent | Kathleen Bradley | 2.3 | 902 | 928 | |||||||
| CISTA | John Lindsay | 0.7 | 259 | ||||||||
| Alliance | Chris McCaw | 0.6 | 238 | ||||||||
| Green (NI) | Mary Hassan | 0.4 | 157 | ||||||||
| NI Conservatives | Alan Dunlop | 0.1 | 36 | ||||||||
| Electorate: 71,759 Valid: 39,702 Spoilt: 485 (1.21%) Quota: 5,672 Turnout: 58.00% | |||||||||||
2017
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||||
| Sinn Féin | Elisha McCallion | 20.6 | 9,205 | ||||||
| Sinn Féin | Raymond McCartney | 16.0 | 7,145 | 8,608.76 | |||||
| SDLP | Colum Eastwood | 16.2 | 7,240 | 7,332.53 | 7,595.30 | ||||
| SDLP | Mark H. Durkan | 15.6 | 6,948 | 7,023.05 | 7,275.56 | 7,380.68 | 8,413.68 | ||
| DUP | Gary Middleton | 13.4 | 5,975 | 5,975 | 5,976.71 | 6,008.09 | 6,902.37 | 7,036.37 | |
| People Before Profit | Eamonn McCann | 10.7 | 4,760 | 4,850.63 | 5,086.80 | 5,291.63 | 5,922.16 | 6,373.16 | |
| UUP | Julia Kee | 3.7 | 1,660 | 1,661.52 | 1,668.93 | 1,704.50 | |||
| Alliance | Colm Cavanagh | 2.5 | 1,124 | 1,132.93 | 1,179.67 | 1,295.22 | |||
| Green (NI) | Shannon Downey | 0.5 | 242 | 244.09 | 264.42 | ||||
| CISTA | John Lindsay | 0.4 | 196 | 199.61 | 225.45 | ||||
| NI Conservatives | Stuart Canning | 0.2 | 77 | 77.19 | 78.90 | ||||
| Independent | Arthur McGuinness | 0.1 | 44 | 44.57 | 56.35 | ||||
| Electorate: 69,718 Valid: 44,616 Spoilt: 701 (1.55%) Quota: 7,437 Turnout: 65.00% (45,317) | |||||||||
On 12 December 2019 Eastwood was elected asMember of the Parliament of the United Kingdom forFoyle in a landslide victory againstSinn Féin candidate, then incumbent,Elisha McCallion. He was the first of the new MPs elected at the 2019 general election to make hismaiden speech in the Commons.[12]
On 11 November 2020 during a Westminster Hall debate Eastwood called for a full and independent judicial inquiry into the murder of Belfast solicitorPat Finucane in 1989.[13]
He was re-elected MP in 2024 followingthe general election. That year, he described theOath of Allegiance to KingCharles III as an "empty formula" and said he took it "under protest" in order to represent his constituents in the House of Commons.[14]
Following the SDLP's poor election results in the2014 local elections, the2014 European Parliament election and the2015 Westminster election, the then SDLP leader and MP forSouth Belfast Alasdair McDonnell resisted calls to stand down, including from the party's deputy leaderDolores Kelly.[15][16]
At the SDLP's Annual Conference on 14 November 2015, Eastwood contested theleadership election where he defeated the incumbent,Alasdair McDonnell, by 172 votes to 133.[9]
In July 2021 Eastwood usedparliamentary privilege to reveal the identity ofBloody Sunday's 'Soldier F' in the House of Commons.[17]
In August 2024, Eastwood announced his intention to resign as leader, and was succeeded byClaire Hanna at the SDLP Conference on 5 October 2024.[18]
Eastwood revealed in June 2025 that he was considering a candidacy in the2025 Irish presidential election.[19]
Eastwood married Rachael Parkes in December 2013. They have two daughters. The couple separated in 2022.[20] In August 2025, Eastwood publicly confirmed his relationship withLouise Haigh, aLabour MP forSheffield Heeley and formerShadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.[21]
| Civic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Paul Fleming | Mayor of Derry 2010 to 2011 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Leader of theSDLP 2015 to 2024 | Succeeded by |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forFoyle 2019 to present | Incumbent |
| Northern Ireland Assembly | ||
| Preceded by | MLA forFoyle 2011 to 2020 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| People | |
