United Labour Party | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Paddy Devlin |
| Founded | June 1978 |
| Dissolved | 1987 |
| Succeeded by | Labour '87 |
| Ideology | Democratic socialism |
| Political position | Centre-left |
TheUnited Labour Party was a minorpolitical party inNorthern Ireland.
The party was founded in June 1978 byPaddy Devlin, formerly of theSocial Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and a group of formerNorthern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) members, including John Coulthard and Bob Kidd.[1] Devlin had been expelled from the SDLP after accusing it of no longer beingsocialist, while the party viewed the NILP as having becomesectarian.[2]
The party held that thepartition of Ireland could only be ended if endorsed by the majority of people in Northern Ireland, and called for legal changes to reduce the power of any futureNorthern Ireland Executive.[1] It described its long-term aim as the establishment of a democratic socialist government in Northern Ireland, and aimed to achieve this through working with other labour groups throughout theBritish Isles, including theBritish Labour Party andIrish Labour Party.[3]
Devlin stood as a United Labour Party candidate in the1979 European Parliament election but polled just 6,122 first preferences (1.1% of those cast) and thereby lost hisdeposit.[2] In the same year, Kidd stood for the party inSouth Antrim at theUK general election, winning 2.6% of the votes.[4] The party's only other contest was Brian Caul, who stood in the1982 Belfast South by-election, winning just 0.7% of the votes cast.[2]
In 1987, the group joined with the NILP and other small groups to form theLabour '87 coalition.[2]
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