Labour - Federation of Labour Groups
Encyclopedia
Labour – Federation of Labour Groups is the formally registered name of a collection of political organisation
Political organisation
A political organization is an organization that involves itself in the political process. In a broader sense, a political organization can also be viewed as a political system, as long as it includes the entire system and body of government...

s in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

 who aspire to become part of the Labour Party of Great Britain
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

.

Background

The British Labour Party did not organise or allow membership in Northern Ireland from the early 1920s till 2003 (although before the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 one of the earliest Labour Party conferences was held in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

). For many years this gap was filled by the Northern Ireland Labour Party
Northern Ireland Labour Party
The Northern Ireland Labour Party was an Irish political party which operated from 1924 until 1987.In 1913 the British Labour Party resolved to give the recently formed Irish Labour Party exclusive organising rights in Ireland...

 which had links to the British party and, from 1949 was explicitly in favour of the Union between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. At the same time the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 and the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 had branches in Northern Ireland, the latter being the Ulster Unionists
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...

.

The Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...

 led to a major realignment in the politics of Northern Ireland, with the Ulster Unionists breaking away from the Conservatives whilst both Northern Ireland Labour and Liberals declined to virtual electoral insignificance. Many in both Northern Ireland and Great Britain began to campaign for the major British political parties to allow membership, organise and run for election in Northern Ireland, in the hope of bringing a further realignment that would move political discourse away from total domination by The Border Question
Partition of Ireland
The partition of Ireland was the division of the island of Ireland into two distinct territories, now Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland . Partition occurred when the British Parliament passed the Government of Ireland Act 1920...

.

In the case of the British Labour Party this campaign had long run up against the party's former policy that Northern Ireland should be given over to the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 and Labour's relations with the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party
Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic, Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. Its basic party platform advocates Irish reunification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom...

 (SDLP). Labour maintained a ban on residents of Northern Ireland joining the party, despite allowing residents of anywhere else in the world the right to join. Despite this a number of activists formed local groups such as the South Belfast Constituency Labour Party or the Foyle Labour Group. These groups contested elections in the province as "Labour".

New legislation now requires political parties to formally register in order to use a party description on ballot papers. The local groups are formally registered as "Labour – Federation of Labour Groups".

In 2003 the trade unionist Andy McGivern initiated legal proceedings against the Labour Party, contending that the ban on membership breached the 1998 Human Rights Act. The Labour National Executive
National Executive Committee
The National Executive Committee or NEC is the chief administrative body of the UK Labour Party. Its composition has changed over the years, and includes representatives of affiliated trade unions, the Parliamentary Labour Party and European Parliamentary Labour Party, Constituency Labour Parties,...

 took legal advice and came to the conclusion that the courts would impose a change on the party; to pre-empt this the 2003 Labour Party Conference passed the appropriate rules changes to allow party membership.

However the Labour Party continued to refuse to organise in Northern Ireland, and so the local Labour groups continued their pressure. With the prospect of further legal action challenging the legality of the national party's decision, the Labour Party established an officially recognised branch in Northern Ireland in 2009.

External links

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