2010 Social Democratic and Labour Party leadership election

← 2001

5–7 February 2010

2011 →


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:

Alasdair McDonnell - MP for South Belfast as well as MLA for the corresponding constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. McDonnell was also the Deputy Leader of the SDLP prior to the leadership election.^[1]
Margaret Ritchie - MLA for South Down and Minister for Social Development in the Northern Ireland Assembly.^[1]

Results

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

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

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

References

^ ^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.
^ ^a ^b Durkan announces intention to step down Archived 2010-02-12 at the Wayback Machine RTÉ News, 20 September 2009.
^ ^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.

Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP)

Leadership
Leader	Gerry Fitt (1970–1979) John Hume (1979–2001) Mark Durkan (2001–2010) Margaret Ritchie (2010–2011) Alasdair McDonnell (2011–2015) Colum Eastwood (2015–present)
Deputy Leader	John Hume (1970–1979) Seamus Mallon (1979–2001) Bríd Rodgers (2001–2004) Alasdair McDonnell (2004–2010) Patsy McGlone (2010–2011) Dolores Kelly (2011–2015) Fearghal McKinney (2015–2016) Nichola Mallon (2017–2022)
Chair	Eddie McGrady (1971–1973) Denis Haughey (1973–1978) Bríd Rodgers (1978–1980) Sean Farren (1980–1984) Alban Maginness (1984–1990) Mark Durkan (1990–1995) Jonathan Stephenson (1995–1998) Jim Lennon (1998–2000) Alex Attwood (2000–2004) Patricia Lewsley (2004–2007) Eddie McGrady (2007–2009) Joe Byrne (2009–2012) John Dallat (2012–2013) John Clayton (2013–2015) Ronan McCay (2015–2017) Colin McGrath (2017–2023) Daniel McCrossan (2023–present)
General Secretary (until 2016) Party Manager (since 2016)	Paddy Wilson (1970–1972) John Duffy (1972–1975) Dan McAreavey (1975–1980) Don Canning (1980–1981) Bríd Rodgers (1981–1983) Eamon Hanna (1983–1986) Patsy McGlone (1986–1992) Gerry Cosgrove (1992–2016) Catherine Matthews (2016–present)

Elected representatives

Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly	Mark H. Durkan Cara Hunter Daniel McCrossan Patsy McGlone Colin McGrath Sinead McLaughlin Matthew O'Toole
Members of the UK Parliament	Colum Eastwood Claire Hanna Historical list