2010 Social Democratic and Labour Party leadership election
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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 | % | |
| style="background-color: Template:Social Democratic and Labour Party/meta/color" | | Margaret Ritchie |  222
|
54.3 |
| style="background-color: Template:Social Democratic and Labour Party/meta/color" | | 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 Belfast Telegraph, 8 February 2010.
- ^ a b Durkan announces intention to step down 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.