Republican Labour Party | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Gerry Fitt (1964–1970) Paddy Kennedy (1970–1973) |
| Founded | 1964 |
| Dissolved | 1973 |
| Preceded by | Socialist Republican Party |
| Ideology | Socialism Irish republicanism Anti-Common Market |
| Political position | Centre-left |
TheRepublican Labour Party (RLP) was a political party inNorthern Ireland. It was founded in 1964, with two MPs atStormont,Harry Diamond andGerry Fitt.[1] They had previously been the sole Northern Ireland representatives of theSocialist Republican Party and theIrish Labour Party respectively, so a common joke was that "two one-man parties had become one two-man party".[2] Fitt won theWest Belfast seat in theUK general election of 1966, and held it in the1970 election.
In August 1970, Fitt founded theSocial Democratic and Labour Party, and he and SenatorPaddy Wilson were expelled from the RLP by a vote of 52 to 1.[3]Paddy Kennedy was elected as the new party leader. He formally withdrew from Parliament in 1971, and adopted a more stronglyIrish republican stance, agreeing to attend a conference organised byWilliam Whitelaw only if he could bringIrish Republican Army members as part of his delegation.[4]
The party was wiped out in both the1973 elections to theNorthern Ireland Assembly and the1973 local elections and as a result was disbanded.
| Election | Votes | % | ± | Seats | ± |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965(NI Parliament) | 3,326 | 1.02% | New | 2 / 52 |  1 |
| 1969(NI Parliament) | 13,115 | 2.4% | 1.18 | 2 / 52 |  |
| 1973 (NI Assembly) | 1,750 | 0.2% | New | 0 / 78 | New |
| Election | Votes | % | ± | Seats (for Northern Ireland) | ± |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | 14,678 | 2.3% | New | 0 / 12 | New |
| 1966 | 26,292 | 4.4% | 1.1 | 1 / 12 | 1 |
| 1970 | 30,649 | 3.9% |  0.5 | 1 / 12 | |
| Election | Votes | % | ± | Seats | ± |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 2,594 | 0.4% | - | 0 / 462 | |
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