Editing Republican Labour Party

{{short description|Northern Irish centre-left republican party active 1964–1973}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox political party
|country = Northern Ireland
|name =  Republican Labour Party
|native_name = 
|colorcode = {{party color|Republican Labour Party}}
|logo = 
|leader = {{Nowrap|[[Gerry Fitt]] (1964–1970)<br />[[Paddy Kennedy (politician)|Paddy Kennedy]] (1970–1973)}}
|chairman = 
|foundation = 1964
|dissolution = 1973
|predecessor = [[Socialist Republican Party (Ireland)|Socialist Republican Party]]
|successor = 
|ideology = [[Socialism]]<br /> [[Irish republicanism]]<br />Anti-Common Market
|position = [[Centre-left]]}}

The '''Republican Labour Party''' (RLP) was a political party in [[Northern Ireland]]. It was founded in 1964, with two MPs at [[Parliament of Northern Ireland|Stormont]], [[Harry Diamond (politician)|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 (Ireland)|Socialist Republican Party]] and the [[Labour Party (Ireland)|Irish Labour Party]] respectively, so a common joke was that "two one-man parties had become one two-man party".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=nbGcAQAAQBAJ&dq=%22two+one-man+parties+had+become+one+two-man+party%22&pg=PA376 ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2005-2008''], Lawrence Goldman, OUP Oxford, 2013, page 376</ref> Fitt won the [[Belfast West (UK Parliament constituency)|West Belfast]] seat in the [[1966 United Kingdom general election|UK general election of 1966]], and held it in the [[1970 United Kingdom general election|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 (politician)|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, 1st Viscount Whitelaw|William Whitelaw]] only if he could bring [[Irish Republican Army]] members as part of his delegation.<ref>[[Eamonn McCann]], "[https://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/may/04/guardianobituaries1 Obituary: Paddy Kennedy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715094642/http://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/may/04/guardianobituaries1 |date=2014-07-15 }}", ''[[The Guardian]]'', 4 May 1999</ref>

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

== Electoral Results ==

=== Northern Ireland General Elections ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Election
!Votes
!%
!±
!Seats
!±
|-
|[[1965 Northern Ireland general election|1965]]<small>(NI Parliament)</small>
|3,326
|1.02%
|''New''
|{{Composition bar|2|52|hex={{party color|Republican Labour Party}}}}
|{{Increase}} 1
|-
|[[1969 Northern Ireland general election|1969]]<small>(NI Parliament)</small>
|13,115
|2.4%
|{{Increase}} 1.18
|{{Composition bar|2|52|hex={{party color|Republican Labour Party}}}}
|{{Steady}}
|-
|[[1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election|1973]] 
<small>(NI Assembly)</small>
|1,750
|0.2%
|''New''
|{{Composition bar|0|78|hex={{party color|Republican Labour Party}}}}
|''New''
|}

=== Westminster Elections ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Election
!Votes
!%
!±
!Seats
<small>(for Northern Ireland)</small>
!±
|-
|[[1964 Northern Ireland Westminster election|1964]]
|14,678
|2.3%
|''New''
|{{Composition bar|0|12|hex={{party color|Republican Labour Party}}}}
|''New''
|-
|[[1966 Northern Ireland Westminster election|1966]]
|26,292
|4.4%
|{{Increase}} 1.1
| {{Composition bar|1|12|hex={{party color|Republican Labour Party}}}}
|{{Increase}} 1
|-
|[[1970 Northern Ireland Westminster election|1970]] 
|30,649
|3.9%
|{{Decrease}} 0.5
|{{Composition bar|1|12|hex={{party color|Republican Labour Party}}}}
|{{Steady}}
|}

=== Local Elections ===
{| class="wikitable"
!Election
!Votes
!%
!±
!Seats
!±
|-
|[[1973 Northern Ireland local elections|1973]]
|2,594
|0.4%
|''-''
|{{Composition bar|0|462|hex={{party color|Republican Labour Party}}}}
|{{Decrease}}
|}

==References==
<references/>

{{Defunct political parties in Northern Ireland}}

[[Category:Defunct socialist parties in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Defunct political parties in Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Labour parties in Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1964]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1973]]
[[Category:Irish republican parties]]
[[Category:Republicanism in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Socialist parties in Ireland]]
[[Category:Eurosceptic parties]]


{{Northern-Ireland-party-stub}}