Colum Eastwood (born 30 April 1983) is an

Irish nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cu ...

politician serving as Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) since 2015. He has served as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for Foyle since 2019, served in

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameralism, Unicameral , hou ...

from 2011 to 2019 and served on

Derry City Council Derry City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Dhoire; Ulster-Scots: ''Derry Cittie Cooncil'') was the local government authority for the city of Derry in Northern Ireland. It merged with Strabane District Council in April 2015 under local govern ...

from 2005 to 2011. Eastwood was first elected to the

in 2011 and was re-elected in 2016 and 2017. He was also the SDLP candidate at the 2019 European Parliament election to represent

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 ...

. In December 2019 he was elected to the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

as the

(MP) for Foyle.

Early life

Eastwood was born in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

, where he was educated at St John's Primary School ( Creggan) and at St Columb's College. He later attended the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

, where he studied Latin American Studies though he did not finish his degree.

Political career

Eastwood joined the

SDLP 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 Irela ...

in 1998 at age 14 to campaign for the

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...

. He was drawn to the party by

John Hume John Hume (18 January 19373 August 2020) was an Irish nationalist politician from Northern Ireland, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the recent political history of Ireland, as one of the architects of the Northern Irela ...

Seamus Mallon Seamus Frederick Mallon (; 17 August 1936 – 24 January 2020) was an Irish politician who served as deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2001 and Deputy Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) from 1979 to 20 ...

and the other political giants of that time that "fundamentally changed politics across the island." He was elected to

in 2005 aged 22, and elected for a one-year term as

Mayor of Derry The Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council is an honorary position bestowed upon a Citizen of Derry City & Strabane District in Northern Ireland, who is in practice a member of Derry and Strabane District Council, chosen by their peers ...

in June 2010. Aged 27, he was the youngest mayor of the city to date.

Election to the Northern Ireland Assembly

Following his election to the

in May 2011, Eastwood was appointed SDLP representative on the committee of the Office of the

First Minister and deputy First Minister The First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland are the joint heads of government of the Northern Ireland Executive and have overall responsibility for the running of the Executive Office. Despite the different titles for the two ...

. He sat on the Northern Ireland Assembly committees on Standards and Privileges, and the Environment and was appointed to the post of Assembly Private Secretary to the Minister of the Environment

Alex Attwood Alexander Gerard Attwood (born 26 April 1959) is an Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician, who served as Minister for Environment in the Northern Ireland Executive from 2011 to 2013. Atwood served as a Member of the Leg ...

in 2010. In 2012 he drew criticism from Unionists including

Jim Allister James Hugh Allister (born 2 April 1953) is a British Unionist politician and barrister in Northern Ireland. He founded the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) political party in 2007, leading the party since its formation. Allister has served as ...

after carrying the coffin at the paramilitary funeral of a former

Irish National Liberation Army The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA, ga, Arm Saoirse Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group formed on 10 December 1974, during the 30-year period of conflict known as "the Troubles". The group seek ...

member in Derry. A masked

Real Irish Republican Army The Real Irish Republican Army, or Real IRA (RIRA), is a dissident Irish republican paramilitary group that aims to bring about a United Ireland. It formed in 1997 following a split in the Provisional IRA by dissident members, who rejected the ...

gunman fired a volley of shots over the coffin, although Eastwood stated he was not present at the time of the gunfire. He defended his attendance at the funeral saying the deceased was a personal friend and added "I wasn't concerned at the time about who was standing beside me, or about what flag or otherwise was draped over the coffin." It later emerged that party colleague Mark H. Durkan also attended the funeral. On 14 November 2015, Eastwood contested the

leadership election A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party. Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a l ...

held at the SDLP's annual conference. He beat the incumbent,

Alasdair McDonnell Dr Alasdair McDonnell (born 1 September 1949) is an Irish politician who is a member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and was its leader from 2011 to 2015. He was the Member of Parliament for Belfast South from 2005 to 2017 and ...

, by 172 votes to 133. Eastwood was re-elected to the NI Assembly in 2016 and 2017, receiving 5,000 and 7,240 first preference votes, respectively. 2016 2017

Election to the House of Commons

On 12 December 2019 Eastwood was elected as Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Foyle in a landslide victory against

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

candidate, then incumbent, Elisha McCallion. He was the first of the new MPs elected at the 2019 general election to make his

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

in the Commons. On 11 November 2020 during a Westminster Hall debate Eastwood called for a full and independent judicial inquiry into the murder of Belfast solicitor

Pat Finucane Patrick Finucane (; 21 March 1949 – 12 February 1989) was an Irish lawyer who specialised in criminal defence work. Finucane came to prominence due to his successful challenge of the British government in several important human rights cases ...

in 1989.

Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP)

Following the SDLP's 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, the then SDLP leader and MP for South Belfast Alasdair McDonnell resisted calls to stand down, including from the party's deputy leader Dolores Kelly. At the SDLP's Annual Conference on 14 November 2015, Eastwood contested the

where he defeated the incumbent,

, by 172 votes to 133. In July 2021 Eastwood used

parliamentary privilege Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made in the course of their legislative duties. ...

to reveal the identity of

Bloody Sunday Bloody Sunday may refer to: Historical events Canada * Bloody Sunday (1923), a day of police violence during a steelworkers' strike for union recognition in Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia * Bloody Sunday (1938), police violence aga ...

's 'Soldier F' in the House of Commons.

Personal life

He married Rachael Parkes in December 2013, and they live in Derry with their two daughters.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eastwood, Colum 1983 births Living people Social Democratic and Labour Party MLAs Social Democratic and Labour Party MPs (UK) People educated at St Columb's College Politicians from Derry (city) Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016 Northern Ireland MLAs 2016–2017 Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Londonderry constituencies (since 1922) Mayors of Derry UK MPs 2019–present