Alliance Party of Northern Ireland

Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), Northern Ireland’s oldest interdenominational political party, a small moderate party that represents middle-class interests primarily in the eastern areas of the province.

History

The Alliance Party was launched in April 1970 in an attempt to break the sectarian mold of politics in Northern Ireland through the pursuit of moderate policies. It was self-consciously biconfessional, attracting members from the Roman Catholic and Protestant communities in proportion to their numbers. Although there was no official leader between 1970 and 1972, Oliver Napier acted as de facto leader during that period. Since then the party has been led by Phelim O’Neill (1972–73), Napier (1973–84), John Cushnahan (1984–87), Lord John Alderdice (1989–98), Sean Neeson (1998–2001), David Ford(2001–16), who served in the Northern Ireland Executive as justice minister from 2010 to 2016, and Naomi Long (2016– ).

APNI drew members from the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) who were concerned that the UUP was becoming too extreme. Most of its founding members had not been actively involved in politics, and the party was perceived to be a middle-class phenomenon seeking the “middle ground.”

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Northern Ireland: The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland

APNI achieved its greatest electoral success in the first decade of its existence. In 1972 three sitting members of the British Parliament—two Protestants and one Catholic—“crossed the floor” and joined the Alliance. The party was represented by two members in the first biconfessional government of Northern Ireland, the power-sharing executive body of 1973–74. In 1977 APNI reached its highest electoral standing when it won 14.3 percent of the vote. By the end of the 20th century, it had not yet elected a member of the British or the European Parliament, though Alderdice was ennobled in 1996.

In June 1998 the party won approximately 6 percent of the vote and six seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly, the power-sharing legislative body created in the Good Friday Agreement of April 1998. APNI’s support was drawn from the more affluent areas of Greater Belfast, and it was virtually unrepresented in the western areas of Northern Ireland. In the Assembly elections of 2003, its overall vote share dropped, but it maintained its six seats. In 2007 it rebounded slightly and captured an additional seat in the Assembly. In the British general election of 2010, it won its first seat in the British House of Commons, with Naomi Long winning the Belfast East seat that was held by Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Peter Robinson. In elections for the Assembly in 2011, the Alliance increased its representation to eight seats. The DUP avenged its 2010 loss in May 2015, when it reclaimed the Belfast East seat and deprived APNI of any presence in the British Parliament. However, in the 2019 snap election, APNI returned to Westminister by winning the seat for North Down. In the 2016 elections for the Assembly, APNI held on to its eight seats. APNI again won eight seats in the snap election for the Assembly held in March 2017, though this time the total represented a relative gain, given that the number of seats in the Assembly had been reduced from 108 to 90. The May 2022 elections for the Assembly proved to be an even bigger get for the Alliance as it increased its presence in the body to 17 members by gaining nine seats.

By the end of the 20th century, APNI had not achieved its goal of eliminating sectarianism in Northern Irish politics. As a party that worked within unionist-dominated political institutions in Northern Ireland, it did not attract sufficient support from Catholics who aspired to a united Ireland. And because it was not a unionist party, it did not appeal to Protestants who considered it essential to maintain Northern Ireland’s link to the United Kingdom. As a party of moderation, it suffered from the tensions created in a climate of political violence. Finally, its lack of elected representation in the British and European parliaments limited its political visibility.

Policy and structure

APNI advocates improving cross-community relations through integrated education, a bill of rights, and reform of the security forces. Its politics, apart from issues related to Northern Ireland, are slightly left of centre. Alderdice sat on the Liberal Democratic benches in the House of Lords after his appointment in 1996, and the party has established links with the Progressive Democrats in the republic of Ireland; the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party at the European Parliament; and the Liberal International, a worldwide organization of liberal parties.

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APNI’s main organizational body is its Party Council, which consists of eight delegates from each local branch, all the party’s councillors, and the party officers. Meeting annually, the Party Council elects the party leader, chair, and vice-chair; selects delegates to the Party Executive; and approves or amends policy documents. Party manifestos are drafted by the Executive Committee, which deals with issues of day-to-day party policy and responds to current events in its strategy committees. The Alliance Party leader holds a relatively powerful position, as he or she appoints the party officers and the members of the strategy committees.