Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats
Daonlathaithe Liobrálacha Thuaisceart Éireann
ChairStephen Glenn
HeadquartersBelfast
Youth wingYoung Liberals
IdeologyLiberalism[1]
Social liberalism[1][2]
Classical liberalism[3][4]
Pro-Europeanism[5][6]
Political positionCentre[7][8] to
centre-left[3][9][10]
National affiliationLiberal Democrats
European affiliationAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
International affiliationLiberal International
Colours  Yellow[11]
House of Commons
(NI Seats)
0 / 18
House of Lords
1 / 783
NI Assembly
0 / 90
Local government
0 / 462
Website
libdemsni.wordpress.com

The Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats (Irish: Daonlathaigh Liobrálacha Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: Norlin Airlann Leeberal Democrats), is a local party of the Liberal Democrats that operates in Northern Ireland.[12] Unlike its counterparts in England, Scotland and Wales, the Northern Ireland party is not a state party within the federal Liberal Democrats (though there does exist constitutional provision for it to be established so by conference) but a local party similar to constituency parties in the rest of the UK.

Elections

The Liberal Democrats do not presently contest elections in Northern Ireland but there is a strong history of support to the Alliance Party.

Members

Several individuals, including former Alliance Party leader David Ford, hold membership of both the Alliance Party and the Liberal Democrats. Alliance members of the House of Lords take the Liberal Democrat whip on non-Northern Ireland issues. John Alderdice was leader of Alliance 1987–1998 and has sat as a Lib Dem peer since 1996.

Alliance Party MP Naomi Long (2010–2015) did not take the Liberal Democrat Whip in the House of Commons as she is not a Liberal Democrat member.[13]

As of 23 January 2016, the Chair of the Northern Ireland local party is Stephen Glenn. The previous chair was John O’Neill.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Nordsieck, Wolfram (2017). "United Kingdom". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  2. ^ Hans Slomp (2011). Europe, A Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics [2 volumes]: An American Companion to European Politics. ABC-CLIO. p. 343. ISBN 978-0-313-39182-8.
  3. ^ a b Alistair Clark (2012). Political Parties in the UK. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 86–93. ISBN 978-0-230-36868-2.
  4. ^ Andrew Heywood (2011). Essentials of UK Politics. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 126–128. ISBN 978-0-230-34619-2.
  5. ^ "Brexit". Liberal Democrats. 17 April 2018.
  6. ^ Elgot, Jessica (28 May 2017). "Tim Farron: Lib Dems' pro-European strategy will be proved right". The Guardian.
  7. ^ Mark Kesselman; Joel Krieger; William A. Joseph (2018). Introduction to Comparative Politics: Political Challenges and Changing Agendas. Cengage Learning. p. 71. ISBN 978-1-337-67124-8.
  8. ^ "Lib Dems aim for centrist voters with tax platform". Financial Times. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  9. ^ Thomas Quinn; Judith Bara; John Bartle (2013). "The UK Coalition Agreement of 2010: Who Won?". In Justin Fisher; Christopher Wlezien (eds.). The UK General Election of 2010: Explaining the Outcome. Routledge. p. 180. ISBN 978-1-317-96554-1.
  10. ^ Peter King (2011). The New Politics: Liberal Conservatism Or Same Old Tories?. Policy Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-84742-853-0.
  11. ^ "Style guide". Liberal Democrats.
  12. ^ "insult to injury". 27 September 2010.
  13. ^ "No, I do not regret receiving the...: 9 Dec 2010: House of Commons debates". TheyWorkForYou.

External links