ALLIANCE PARTY Lesson Objectives: To review the background & policies of the Party To analyse its strengths and weaknesses

Introduction AS1 The party has evolved considerably over the years from being a Moderate, Middle class Mouthpiece of concern with little power or votes in the 80’s and 90’s to being a powerful political player in NI.

In 2011-2016 mandate it had 2 Executive positions (Justice and Employment & Learning) AS1 Stephen Farry David Ford It has 8 MLA’s (Up 1 on 2007) It also had 1 MP until 2015 (Their first ever!) Naomi Long

Background AS1 The Alliance Party is the strongest of the smaller parties. Its roots lay in the 1970’s when Liberal Unionists helped form the party, aiming to attract the moderates on both sides who were disturbed at the actions of extreme unionism and nationalism. It aimed to be a PARTY OF THE CENTRE.

The party’s founding principles were an attempt to address the " fears" of Protestants being coerced into a united Ireland, and of Catholics being condemned to a second-class citizenship within Northern Ireland They believe Northern Ireland has a distinctive community with more to unite it than divide it. However there were numerous problems for the Alliance party over the years AS1

Problems AS1 Northern Ireland is a divided society which has been polarized with little room for a political centre. Tradition and fear has always led the electorate to polarize towards the extremes. The election of 2016 showed this with the DUP playing on unionist fears of a SF first minister It has been very difficult to break the centrality of ‘the border’ as THE major policy issue. Their label as a ‘minority party’ has never helped Alliance Alliance has often been overshadowed by the other major parties. The DUP and SF carve up of power has saw them tinkering with the Executive positions at the expense of Alliance. They aimed to merge Employment and learning into another executive branch

6. They have found it particularly hard in the past to effectively challenge major parties in Westminster elections. This is partially due to First Past the Post. It only recently achieved its first MP – Naomi Long who then lost her seat despite a considerable percentage increase in her support. 7. The existence of moderate unionist and nationalist parties in the past has meant that moderate voters can vote for them. 8. The moderating of Sinn Fein and the DUP has also been a challenge to Alliance – Perhaps the GFA has made it irrelevant? 9. The flag protests could be regarded as a major problem. Alliance were implicated in the decision to fly the union flag on designated days in Belfast- This could have harmed their vote from some unionists particularly in East Belfast AS1

They are on such a tight policy line in the centre of politics that little comments can have big impact. Anna Lo’s comments that her personal preference would be for a united Ireland, did have an impact on the Alliance vote AS1

Successes? AS1 Despite its small size Alliance has survived for over 30 years as the centre party. It has punched well above its weight in terms of political debate. It was deeply involved in the GFA and the peace process It achieved 6.5% of the vote in 1998 allowing it 6 seats. It now has 8 seats. Its leader in 1998 Lord Alderdice was appointed 1st Speaker of the Assembly The party has also acted as ‘KINGMAKER’ in 2001 electing David Trimble as FM and Mark Durkan as DFM. This gave it publicity

Successes? AS1 6. The party designated itself ‘Unionist’ in order to keep the Assembly running. However it has always argued against keeping these provisions as it ENTRENCHES SECTARIANISM. This was an effective argument. 7. The party has most effectively benefited from key positions like JUSTICE MINISTER – (David Ford installed by cross community vote) This gives Alliance relevance, acceptance and publicity

Successes? AS1 8. High profile representatives: Anna Lo MLA – 1st elected Chinese representative in Europe ; Naomi Long ; 9. STV allows for the APNI to have much better chance of effective representation and this has inevitably helped its standing

Successes? AS1 10. The party has been deeply involved in NI with key interventions over Human rights law ; education and recently Northern Ireland Prison service!

Current Leader: David Ford Traditionally the centre party. Very mildly unionist in that they believe the positions of N. Ireland should remain unchanged unless the majority decide otherwise. They dislike labels of unionist and nationalist intensely and believe it only contributes to embedding sectarianism within NI institutions. They have a strong record on political contributions to Northern Ireland and on advancing human rights here. They benefit from their Cross community stance by being awarded the extra position of Minister of Justice through cross community vote. They have did quite well electorally under the NI Assembly but they have failed to break out of their present position and therefore are not succeeding in their goal of breaking the old sectarian headcount in politics. Current Leader: David Ford Executive positions: It has 2 Executive positions; Employment & Learning (Stephen Farry and Justice (David Ford) 2016: It had 8 MLA’s (same as 2011) 2015: It had 0 M.P’s (down 1)