The Labour Party of Northern Ireland (LPNI) is a political party in Northern Ireland, formed in 1985 by a group around Paddy Devlin

Paddy Devlin

Paddy Devlin was a Northern Irish social democrat and Labour activist, a former Stormont MP, a founder of the Social Democratic and Labour Party and a member of the 1974 Power Sharing Executive.-Early life:...

, a former Social Democratic and Labour Party

Social Democratic and Labour Party

The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic, Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. Its basic party platform advocates Irish reunification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom...

 councillor and Northern Ireland Assembly

Northern Ireland Assembly

The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...

 member, and Billy Blease, a member of the British House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

.

Progress

In 1987, the group merged with the Northern Ireland Labour Party

Northern Ireland Labour Party

The Northern Ireland Labour Party was an Irish political party which operated from 1924 until 1987.In 1913 the British Labour Party resolved to give the recently formed Irish Labour Party exclusive organising rights in Ireland...

, Ulster Liberal Party

Ulster Liberal Party

The Ulster Liberal Party was a liberal political party in Northern Ireland, supporting a unionist position and linked to the British Liberal Party....

 and the United Labour Party

United Labour Party (Northern Ireland)

The United Labour Party was a minor political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded by Paddy Devlin in 1978 with the aim of being a broad based Labour formation, as opposed to the Northern Ireland Labour Party, which primarily drew its support from Protestants, and the Social Democratic and...

 to form a party known as Labour '87 or Labour Party 1987 with the aim of campaigning for a united Labour Party. This group also gained the support of the Newtownabbey Labour Party

Newtownabbey Labour Party

The Newtownabbey Labour Party is a minor political party based in Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland.The party originated as the Newtownabbey branch of the Northern Ireland Labour Party. It left its parent organisation in the 1970s...

. It hoped to build links with the British Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

, but these came to nothing.

Early elections

The party stood several candidates in the 1985 local government elections, none of whom were successful.

The group ran unsuccessful candidates in the 1989 local elections

Northern Ireland local elections, 1989

Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland in 1989.-Background:The elections took place after a turbulent period in Northern Irish politics. The signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement in November 1985 had been followed by widespread protests by those in the Unionist community...

 and the 1989 European Parliament election

European Parliament election, 1989 (UK)

The European Parliament Election, 1989 was the third European election to be held in the United Kingdom. It was held on 15 June. The electoral system was First Past the Post in England, Scotland and Wales and Single Transferable Vote in Northern Ireland. The turnout was again the lowest in Europe...

, after which the Labour '87 coalition seems to have been dropped. The LPNI survived a little longer, but appears to have dissolved in 1990.

Coalitions

The next attempt to form a labour organisation in Northern Ireland was the Labour Coalition

Labour Coalition

The Labour Coalition was an electoral coalition in Northern Ireland of left wing and labour groups, formed to stand in the 1996 Northern Ireland Forum elections...

, which won seats on the Northern Ireland Forum

Northern Ireland Forum

The Northern Ireland Forum was a body set up in 1996 as part of a process of negotiations that eventually led to the Belfast Agreement in 1998....

 in 1996. This soon split, and group around Malachi Curran

Malachi Curran

Malachi Curran is a politician in Northern Ireland.Curran was elected to Down District Council in 1993 for the Social Democratic and Labour Party . He resigned from the SDLP to stand as a Labour Coalition candidate for the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996...

 founded a new "Labour Party of Northern Ireland". This group ran candidates in the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998

Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998

-Seats summary:-Details:Although the SDLP won the most first preference votes, the Ulster Unionists won the most seats in the Assembly. This has been attributed to several reasons, including:...

, including David Bleakley

David Bleakley

The Right Hon. David Bleakley, OBE is a politician in Northern Ireland.Born in the Strandtown district of Belfast, Bleakley worked as an electrician in the Harland and Wolff dockyards while becoming increasingly active in his trade union. He studied economics at Ruskin College in Oxford, where he...

.

Status

The party remains active, and Curran stood unsuccessfully in the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2007

Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2007

The third elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly were held on 7 March 2007 when 108 new members were elected. The election saw endorsement of the St Andrews Agreement and the two largest parties, the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin, along with the Alliance Party, increase their...

.