The Newtownabbey Labour Party is a minor political party

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 based in Newtownabbey

Newtownabbey

Newtownabbey is a large town north of Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Sometimes considered to be a suburb of Belfast, it is separated from the rest of the city by Cavehill and Fortwilliam golf course...

, 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...

.

The party originated as the Newtownabbey branch of 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...

. It left its parent organisation in the 1970s. Early members included future British Labour Party

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...

 Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 Kate Hoey

Kate Hoey

Catharine Letitia Hoey is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Vauxhall since 1989. She served in the Blair Government as Minister for Sport from 1999 to 2001.-Background:...

.

The group stood in the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1982, but were only able to take 560 votes. However, by 1985

Northern Ireland local elections, 1985

Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland on 15 May 1985.-1981 elections:The previous elections had been fought in the middle of the hunger strike and the H-Block Prison Protest...

, Bob Kidd was able to win a seat on Newtownabbey Borough Council

Newtownabbey Borough Council

Newtownabbey Borough Council is a Local Council in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. Newtownabbey has a population of over 80,000 and is on the north shore of Belfast Lough just immediately north of Belfast. The Borough was founded in 1958 as a result of an Act of Parliament passed in 1957 and...

. In 1987, the group helped form Labour '87. Kidd held his seat under this description in 1989

Northern Ireland local elections, 1989

Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland in 1989.-Background:The elections took place after a turbulent period in Northern Irish politics. The signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement in November 1985 had been followed by widespread protests by those in the Unionist community...

. Although he lost in 1993

Northern Ireland local elections, 1993

Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland on 19 May 1993.-Overall:-Belfast:-References:...

, Mark Langhammer

Mark Langhammer

Mark Langhammer is a trade unionist, employed as Director of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers and elected onto the Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in 2008, being re-elected in 2010...

, also standing for the group, was elected onto the Council. He easily held his seat in 1997

Northern Ireland local elections, 1997

Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland on 21 May 1997, shortly after the 1997 general election across the entire United Kingdom.-Overall:-Belfast:-References:...

, then again as an independent

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

 in 2001

Northern Ireland local elections, 2001

Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland on 7 June 2001 along with the 2001 general election across the entire United Kingdom.-Overall:-Belfast:-References:...

, before standing down at the 2005 elections

Northern Ireland local elections, 2005

Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland on 5 May 2005 along with the 2005 general election across the entire United Kingdom and local elections in England.-Results:-Belfast:-Derry:...

.

For the 1996 Northern Ireland Peace Forum, the party stood as part of the Labour Coalition

Labour Coalition

The Labour Coalition was an electoral coalition in Northern Ireland of left wing and labour groups, formed to stand in the 1996 Northern Ireland Forum elections...

, which had two members elected. By 2004, it was supporting the Socialist Environmental Alliance

Socialist Environmental Alliance

The Socialist Environmental Alliance is a minor political party operating in Northern Ireland. Based largely in the city of Derry, they are a leftist organisation with Trotskyist leanings...

. By this point, Langhammer was a prominent member of the Irish Labour Party, and it is unclear whether the Newtownabbey Labour Party continues to undertake independent activity.