List of political parties in Northern Ireland

Although Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom in recent years it has a quite distinct political scene from the rest of the state as two of the major British political parties do not contest elections there, whilst the third, the Conservative Party, has received miniscule support in recent elections.

Some parties, such as Sinn Féin, the Green Party and the Workers' Party are organised on an all Ireland basis. Others such as the Conservative Party are organised on an all United Kingdom basis. There are many Northern Ireland specific parties and these on the whole predominate.

The distinction between "Unionist", "Nationalist/Republican" and "Other" is not always easy with some parties and individuals. Some have defined themselves less by their position on the "Border Question" than on other political issues - for example the former Republican Labour Party/Social Democratic and Labour Party MP Gerry Fitt's career suggests he was first and foremost a socialist rather than a nationalist and he eventually left the SDLP. Similiar the Workers' Party has its roots in the Official IRA but nowadays is overwhelmingly a Marxist party first and foremost. Several parties strive to be avowedly non-sectarian and would not consider themselves to be either Unionist or Nationalist, despite their position on the "Border Question". The Stormont Assembley requires MLAs to designate themselves either "Unionist", "Nationalist" or "Other" - this is a designation that is particularly resented by those who designate as "Other".

Table of contents

1 Unionist Parties 2 Republican/Nationalist Parties 3 Pro Complete Independence 4 Neutral on the Constitutional Status/Other 5 Defunct Parties

Unionist Parties

• Ulster Unionist Party
• Democratic Unionist Party
• UK Unionist Party
• Progressive Unionist Party
• Northern Ireland Unionist Party
• United Unionist Assembly Party

Republican/Nationalist Parties

• Social Democratic and Labour Party
• Sinn Féin

Pro Complete Independence

• Ulster Third Way
• Ulster Independence Movement

Neutral on the Constitutional Status/Other

• Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
• Northern Ireland Women's Coalition
• The Workers' Party
• Conservative Party (Although the Conservative Party, and in particular its Northern Ireland branch, are committed to the Union, in the Northern Ireland Assembly Election, 2003 they opposed the entire system of designation and pledged not to designate as "Unionists"; they also campaigned strongly on other issues to the border)
• Green Party
• Labour - Federation of Labour Groups aka "Labour", but unrelated to either the Irish Labour Party or the British Labour Party

Defunct Parties

• Natural Law Party (no longer contests elections)
• Liberal Party Now part of the Liberal Democrats (still contests elections in Britain)
• Irish Labour Party (still contests elections in the Republic)

• Ulster Popular Unionist Party
• Ulster Democratic Party
• Unionist Party of Northern Ireland
• United Ulster Unionist Party
• Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party
• Vanguard Progessive Unionist Party

• Nationalist Party
• Official Sinn Féin (later Republican Clubs, now The Workers' Party)
• Unity
• Anti-H-Block
• Republican Labour Party
• Socialist Republican Party

• Northern Ireland Labour Party

Many other parties have formally registered to contest elections in Northern Ireland but have no serious record of standing in elections at the time of writing.