A NORTHERN IRISH LABOUR? M A I A H A M I LT O N
While we look forward to the results of the next general election and hope for success across the country, there is one region of the UK in which we know that Labour will not gain any advantage.
statement). Of all the regions of the UK, Northern Ireland is the least acceptable to parties that appeal to the whole of the UK.
The Labour Party did not allow people in Northern Ireland to join until 2003. Instead, the number of seats held by the right-wing Conservatives and the socially-conservative DUP more than tripled in that period.
It is the sea and its physical separation that is one of the factors driving the countries apart. Northern Ireland's land border is not with England but with Ireland, and until 1921 there was no division between north and south. It would be too simplistic to write off the differences between Scotland and Wales as a distance between countries. Plenty of island states exist without such clear divisions into groups of political parties.
In 1997 Labour won 43.2% of the vote and had a majority in the next two elections. On the face of it, it would seem that Britain was united in its desire for a left-wing government. However, in Belfast the Northern Ireland Labour Party had not existed for ten years.
Even in recent years the situation has not changed. No one would deny that Scottish Labour could have done better, but the fact that they became the third most popular party in the Scottish Parliament in 2021 puts them among the biggest players in Scottish politics.
Meanwhile in Wales, a Labour-led government won half the seats, matching the best result in the Senedd. In Northern Ireland, the idea of a Labour government is ludicrous: the highest number of seats it has ever won is one.
It would be unfair to think that only Labour faces this problem. The Northern Ireland Conservatives won just 0.3% of the vote in the 2017 Northern Ireland Assembly elections, and similar results can be seen for the Greens. The absence of Labour cannot be explained by the fact that people in Northern Ireland are too far-right to join Labour (although there is some truth in this
So why is this the case? It seems obvious that Northern Ireland feels more disconnected from the politics of the rest of the UK, and this has been a constant feature throughout its history. This year is the 100th anniversary of the formation of Northern Ireland, and although the vote share in elections changes, it never includes a party from across the sea.
The elephant in the room is Northern Ireland's murky past. Current politicians, more than 20 years after the Good Friday Agreement, are still accused of illegal paramilitary involvement. Many of those who are not have been seen making sectarian remarks.
Northern Ireland is a country consumed by its past. In 2017, 93% of children attended segregated schools, a figure that has risen from 90% in 2006. Belfast still has peace walls erected as barriers between warring neighbourhoods in an attempt to curb violence, and there are still the physical scars of 'turmoil'. In cities such as Belfast and Derry, houses are decorated with murals depicting rifles and men in balaclavas. This culture is unique and difficult for the rest of the UK to understand.
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