Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) is one of the two major nationalist parties in Northern Ireland. It was founded in the early 1970s to provide a political movement to unite constitutional nationalists who opposed the paramilitary campaign of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and wished to campaign for Catholic civil rights and a united Ireland by peaceful, constitutional means. The SDLP was the largest nationalist party in Northern Ireland from the time of its foundation until the beginning of the 21st century when, in the 2001 General Election and the 2003 Assembly Election, the party was for the first time outpolled by Sinn FÃÂéin, the political party allied to the Provisional IRA, who also won more seats than the SDLP.
It has had three leaders;
- Gerry Fitt (1973-1979)
- John Hume (1979-2001)
- Mark Durkan (2001-)
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