Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats

Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats
Chair	Michael Carchrie Campbell
Founded	1983
Youth wing	Liberal Youth Northern Ireland
Ideology	Liberalism, Social liberalism, Social democracy
Political position	Radical center to Centre-left
International affiliation	Liberal International
European affiliation	European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
European Parliament Group	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
Official colours	Yellow
Politics of Northern Ireland Political parties Elections

The Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats is a local party of the Liberal Democrats that operates in Northern Ireland. ^[1] Unlike its counterparts in England, Scotland and Wales, the Northern Ireland party is not a state party within the federal Liberal Democrats but a local party, similar to constituency parties in the rest of the UK.

Elections

The Liberal Democrats do not presently contest elections in Northern Ireland but there is a strong history of support to the Alliance Party, some people mistake this for the two being the same entity.

Members

Several individuals, including Alliance Party leader David Ford, hold membership of both parties. Alliance members of the House of Lords take the Lib Dem whip on non-Northern Ireland issues. Current Alliance Party MP Naomi Long has not taken the Liberal Democrat Whip in the House of Commons as she is not a Liberal Democrat member ^[2] and sits on the opposition benches.

The current Chair of the Northern Ireland local party is Michael Carchrie Campbell, a Liberal Democrat activist from Belfast. ^[3]

Youth Wing

The Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats have their own youth branch called Liberal Youth Northern Ireland, established in 2010. The current President of Liberal Youth Northern Ireland is Stephen McFarland.

See also

• Liberal Democrats
• Liberal Democrats in England
• Scottish Liberal Democrats
• Welsh Liberal Democrats
• Alliance Party of Northern Ireland

References

1. ^ http://libdemsni.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/insult-to-injury/
2. ^ http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debate/?id=2010-12-09b.594.1
3. ^ http://michaelcampbell.mycouncillor.org.uk/

External links

• Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats - official blog
• Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats - official Facebook group
• Liberal Youth Northern Ireland - Facebook group