2010 Social Democratic and Labour Party leadership election

2010 Social Democratic and Labour Party leadership election
← 2001 5–7 February 2010 2011 →
  Alasdair McDonnell
Candidate Margaret Ritchie Alasdair McDonnell
1st Pref. 222 187
Percentage 54.3% 45.7%
Leader before election

Mark Durkan

 Elected Leader

Margaret Ritchie

An election for the leadership of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) was held 5–7 February 2010. Margaret Ritchie defeated her only challenger, Alasdair McDonnell, by 222 votes to 187.[1]

Background

The former SDLP leader, Mark Durkan, announced his intention to stand down as leader of the SDLP in September 2009,[2] citing that he did not want to continue to lead the party past his 50th birthday, and also to allow him to concentrate on his parliamentary career.[2] Subsequently, a leadership election was scheduled for the SDLP annual conference in February 2010.[3]

Candidates

Two SDLP members contested the leadership election.[3] These were:

Results

Below is a table summarising the result of the leadership election:

2010 Social Democratic and Labour Party leadership election
Candidate Votes %
Margaret Ritchie Green tickY 222 54.3
Alasdair McDonnell 187 45.7

Margaret Ritchie was duly named the new SDLP leader on 7 February 2010.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d New SDLP leader Margaret Ritchie aims to be Northern Ireland's First Minister Minister Archived 2012-03-03 at the Wayback Machine Belfast Telegraph, 8 February 2010.
  2. ^ a b Durkan announces intention to step down Archived 2010-02-12 at the Wayback Machine RTÉ News, 20 September 2009.
  3. ^ a b McDonnell/Ritchie to contest SDLP leadership Archived 2012-04-25 at the Wayback Machine Social Democratic and Labour Party website, 16 November 2009. Retrieved 12 November 2011.