Republican Labour Party
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The Republican Labour Party (RLP) was a political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1964, with two MPs at Stormont, Harry Diamond and Gerry Fitt.[1] They had previously been the sole Northern Ireland representatives of the Socialist Republican Party and the Irish Labour Party respectively, so a common joke was that "two one-man parties had become one two-man party".[2] Fitt won the West Belfast seat in the UK general election of 1966, and held it in the 1970 election.
In August 1970, Fitt founded the Social Democratic and Labour Party, and he and Senator Paddy Wilson were expelled from the RLP by a vote of 52 to 1.[3] Paddy Kennedy was elected as the new party leader. He formally withdrew from Parliament in 1971, and adopted a more strongly Irish republican stance, agreeing to attend a conference organised by William Whitelaw only if he could bring Irish Republican Army members as part of his delegation.[4]
The party was wiped out in both the 1973 elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly and the 1973 local elections and as a result was disbanded.
Electoral Results
Northern Ireland General Elections
| Election | Votes | % | ± | Seats | ± |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965(NI Parliament) | 3,326 | 1.02% | New | Template:Composition bar | Increase 1 |
| 1969(NI Parliament) | 13,115 | 2.4% | Increase 1.18 | Template:Composition bar | Steady |
| 1973
(NI Assembly) |
1,750 | 0.2% | New | Template:Composition bar | New |
Westminster Elections
| Election | Votes | % | ± | Seats
(for Northern Ireland) |
± |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | 14,678 | 2.3% | New | Template:Composition bar | New |
| 1966 | 26,292 | 4.4% | Increase 1.1 | Template:Composition bar | Increase 1 |
| 1970 | 30,649 | 3.9% | Decrease 0.5 | Template:Composition bar | Steady |
Local Elections
| Election | Votes | % | ± | Seats | ± |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 2,594 | 0.4% | - | Template:Composition bar | Decrease |
References
- ↑ David Boothroyd, Politico's guide to the history of British political parties, p. 138
- ↑ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2005-2008, Lawrence Goldman, OUP Oxford, 2013, page 376
- ↑ Michael A. Murphy, Gerry Fitt: A Political Chameleon, p.162
- ↑ Eamonn McCann, "Obituary: Paddy Kennedy Template:Webarchive", The Guardian, 4 May 1999
- Pages with script errors
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- Defunct socialist parties in the United Kingdom
- Defunct political parties in Northern Ireland
- Labour parties in Northern Ireland
- Political parties established in 1964
- Political parties disestablished in 1973
- Irish republican parties
- Republicanism in the United Kingdom
- Socialist parties in Ireland
- Eurosceptic parties