Leader of the Opposition (Northern Ireland)

In Northern Ireland, the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the largest eligible political party in the Northern Ireland Assembly that is not in the Northern Ireland Executive. The position is currently held by Matthew O'Toole of the Social Democratic and Labour Party.^[1]

From the establishment of the Parliament of Northern Ireland in 1921, the Nationalist Party were consistently the largest non-government party; however, they intermittently practised a policy of abstentionism and did not formally adopt the mantle of Official Opposition.^[2] Various Nationalist, Labour and Independent Unionist politicians performed an opposition role without any formal recognition.

After the 1958 election the Northern Ireland Labour Party won four seats and were asked by the Speaker to form the Official Opposition. Tom Boyd was appointed the first Leader of the Opposition.^[3]

In February 1965 the Nationalists decided that they would form the Official Opposition for the first time, and appointed their leader, Eddie McAteer, as Leader of the Opposition.^[4] He served in this role until October 1968 when the party withdrew from Stormont in response to the Government's response to the RUC's attack on a NICRA march in Derry.^[5]

From 1968 until the prorogation of the Parliament no other party agreed to form the Official Opposition and therefore no Leader of the Opposition was appointed.

When the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive were established in 1998 and 1999 respectively, all eligible parties were required to nominate ministers to serve on the Executive. No provision for an Official Opposition or for the role of Leader of the Opposition was made. Non-Executive parties continued to fulfil the role of an opposition in an unofficial capacity, much as various Nationalist and Labour MPs had done in the House of Commons.^[6]

The قانون إصلاح الجمعية والسلطة التنفيذية (معارضة الجمعية) (أيرلندا الشمالية) لعام 2016 (الفصل 10 (أيرلندا الشمالية)) ^{[ 7 ]} وضع أحكامًا تسمح بإنشاء معارضة رسمية، مع بعض الحقوق والامتيازات المرتبطة بهذا الدور. ونصت اللوائح الداخلية للجمعية لاحقًا على إنشاء منصب "زعيم المعارضة" و"نائب زعيم المعارضة"، يتم ترشيحهما من قبل أكبر حزبين، وهما الحزبان اللذان يحق لهما عضوية المعارضة الرسمية. ^{[ 8 ]} بعد انتخابات عام 2016،الاتحاد الديمقراطي الأيرلندي (UUP)والحزبالاشتراكي الديمقراطي العمالي (SDLP)تشكيل المعارضة الرسمية. ومع ذلك، لم يرشح أي من الحزبين أفرادًا لمنصبي الزعيم ونائب الزعيم. ^{[ 9 ]}

بعد رفض الحزب الاشتراكي الديمقراطي العمالي ترشيح وزير للبنية التحتية للسلطة التنفيذية، قام الحزب في 25 يوليو 2022 بتشكيل المعارضة ورشح ماثيو أوتول ليكون أول زعيم للمعارضة في جمعية أيرلندا الشمالية. ^{[ 10 ]}

• برلمان أيرلندا الشمالية
• حكومة أيرلندا الشمالية
• جمعية أيرلندا الشمالية
• حكومة أيرلندا الشمالية
• معارضة الجمعية الوطنية في أيرلندا الشمالية