The Social Democratic and Labour Party (or as they will be referred to in this opening paragraph, “The Simply and Desperately trying to Live Party”) are currently the fifth largest political party in Stormont, although they aren’t in the Executive and instead are the only political party to be part of the Opposition.
In this blog, I’m going to tell you what the main political beliefs of the SDLP are, and what makes them different than Sinn Fein in case you’re minded to vote for them in an Assembly or General Election.
Founded in the 1970s by Gerry Fitt, the SDLP is a Nationalist party that has one main political aim which is to see Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland reunited, but unlike Sinn Fein, they have differentiated themselves, historically and till this day, by rejecting political violence, meaning they want to convince those who have different views on them in regards to the constitutional question to vote for a United Ireland by peaceful means.
They were the largest Nationalist party throughout The Troubles and were one of the two main parties in 1998 that helped negotiate the Good Friday / Belfast Agreement, and view the release of paramilitary prisoners as a necessary sacrifice for the greater good of peace. However, following polls that have been published in previous years that suggest there’s been a drop in Unionist support for the Good Friday Agreement, they view the polls that suggest this as “sad and worrying”, which voters may wish to read further into.
Today, the SDLP is led by Claire Hanna who represents them on the island of Ireland and in the Commons, while Matthew O’Toole is their leader in the Opposition.
Unlike Sinn Fein, the SDLP do take their seats in the House of Commons, which many of their voters view as a good thing, given that it means their elected Irish Nationalist MPs will therefore fight for their ideas in the place that Northern Ireland as part of the UK is partly governed by, even if the SDLP would prefer this to not be the case one day.
They supported Remain in the 2016 Brexit Referendum and backed calls for a second referendum. And since the Brexit deal that resulted in the Northern Ireland Protocol was passed, they have supported the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol, and although they acknowledge unionist concerns, they still view it as the only viable alternative to a Hard Border down the island of Ireland.
They also support Irish Language / Dual Language signage, abortion in certain circumstances and Gay Marriage, but they seem to also be against UUP motions that would ban trans women from single sex spaces such as prisons.
Furthermore, they also caused controversy in 2021 when a bill dodged all mentions of girls and women, and pointed instead at “persons who have periods”.
They are supportive of the NHS, and are believed to have a plan for what they would like to keep in a United Ireland.
They are also against all forms of racism and have been fighting against language they say the government and their rivals use to fight against illegal immigration, which they describe as “inhumane”. Instead of cracking down on illegal immigration the way other parties have, with calls for illegal immigrants to be sent back to where they came from, they favour a humane, rights-based and economically beneficial approach.
The SDLP is also a strong supporter of foreign aid, and in relation to foreign issues, it is largely Pro Palestine — recognising a Palestinian state, standing for a two state solution, as well as calling for a ceasefire and increased aid to Gaza. But although they have been behind calls to stop the UK supporting Israel, they equally believe that the 7th October attacks against innocent Israelis was not justified, and that Hamas should release all the hostages.
They also strongly condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and support Ukraine’s self defence.
So to summarise what the SDLP is:
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