Social Democratic and Labour Party

From Wikinfo

The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) is a major nationalist party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in the early 1970s to provide a political movement to unite non-violent nationalists who opposed the campaign of violence of [[Sinn F�in]] and its military wing, the Provisional IRA, yet who also wanted to campaign democratically for a united Ireland. Traditionally they have been the main party seeking the reunification of Ireland, but at the 2001 General Election and the 2003 Assembly Election they were outpolled by Sinn F�in, who also won more seats than the SDLP.

It has had three leaders;

• Gerry Fitt (1973-1979)
• John Hume (1979-2001)
• Mark Durkan (2001-)

It has served in the current power-sharing government in Northern Ireland, alongside the Ulster Unionist Party and Sinn F�in. (The powersharing administration is currently in suspension.)

References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Social Democratic and Labour Party" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Democratic_and_Labour_Party December 27, 2003