A leadership election was held for the

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ( ga, Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

between 12 and 15 November 2015. The result was a victory for

Colum Eastwood Colum Eastwood (born 30 April 1983) is an Irish nationalist politician serving as Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) since 2015. He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Foyle since 2019, served in Northern Irel ...

Background

Following poor election results in the 2014 local elections, the

2014 European Parliament election The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014. It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...

and the 2015 Westminster election, McDonnell resisted calls to stand down. Initially no challenger came forward, though early in June it was rumoured that eventual challenger

would stand. It was not until late September that Eastwood confirmed that he would stand against McDonnell.

Candidates

Two SDLP members announced they would stand in the leadership election. These were: *

- MLA for Foyle. At 32 years old, Eastwood is the youngest SDLP MLA. He counted among his supporters the former Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland Seamus Mallon and former leader

Mark Durkan Mark Durkan (born 26 June 1960) is a retired Irish nationalist politician from Northern Ireland. Durkan was the deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland from November 2001 to October 2002, and the Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Pa ...

. * Alasdair McDonnell - Leader of the SDLP and MP for Belfast South.

Results

Below is a table summarising the results of the leadership election. With just two candidates there was only one round of votes.

References

{{Social Democratic and Labour Party Social Democratic and Labour Party leadership elections Social Democratic and Labour Party leadership Social Democratic and Labour Party leadership election