Republican Labour Party

The Republican Labour Party (RLP) was a political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1964, with two MPs at Stormont, Harry Diamond and Gerry Fitt.<ref>David Boothroyd, Politico's guide to the history of British political parties, p. 138</ref> They had previously been the sole Northern Ireland representatives of the Socialist Republican Party and the Irish Labour Party respectively, so a common joke was that "two one-man parties had become one two-man party".<ref>Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2005-2008, Lawrence Goldman, OUP Oxford, 2013, page 376</ref> Fitt won the West Belfast seat in the UK general election of 1966, and held it in the 1970 election.

In August 1970, Fitt founded the Social Democratic and Labour Party, and he and Senator Paddy Wilson were expelled from the RLP by a vote of 52 to 1.<ref>Michael A. Murphy, Gerry Fitt: A Political Chameleon, p.162</ref> Paddy Kennedy was elected as the new party leader. He formally withdrew from Parliament in 1971, and adopted a more strongly Irish republican stance, agreeing to attend a conference organised by William Whitelaw only if he could bring Irish Republican Army members as part of his delegation.<ref>Eamonn McCann, "Obituary: Paddy Kennedy Template:Webarchive", The Guardian, 4 May 1999</ref>

The party was wiped out in both the 1973 elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly and the 1973 local elections and as a result was disbanded.

Electoral Results

Northern Ireland General Elections

Election	Votes	%	±	Seats	±
1965(NI Parliament)	3,326	1.02%	New	Template:Composition bar	Template:Increase 1
1969(NI Parliament)	13,115	2.4%	Template:Increase 1.18	Template:Composition bar	Template:Steady
1973 (NI Assembly)	1,750	0.2%	New	Template:Composition bar	New

Westminster Elections

Election	Votes	%	±	Seats (for Northern Ireland)	±
1964	14,678	2.3%	New	Template:Composition bar	New
1966	26,292	4.4%	Template:Increase 1.1	Template:Composition bar	Template:Increase 1
1970	30,649	3.9%	Template:Decrease 0.5	Template:Composition bar	Template:Steady

Local Elections

Election	Votes	%	±	Seats	±
1973	2,594	0.4%	-	Template:Composition bar	Template:Decrease

References

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