SDLP announce reshuffle of official opposition team as Stormont returns

The party became Stormont’s official opposition in 2022

The SDLP have announced a reshuffle of their official opposition team as Stormont returns after its summer recess.

The party said the reshuffle “gives the SDLP the most experienced and driven team in Stormont to hold the Executive to account.” Following the reshuffle, Mark H Durkan MLA becomes the party’s new spokesperson for Communities, while Patsy McGlone MLA takes on the Justice portfolio.

Daniel McCrossan MLA moves to Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, and Justin McNulty MLA has taken up the Infrastructure brief. Colin McGrath MLA will remain as the party’s spokesperson on Health but has also joined the Northern Ireland Policing Board.

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Speaking after the announcement, SDLP Leader Claire Hanna MP said: “The SDLP Opposition is proving that politics here can be about more than endless division. At a time when so many are losing faith in politics, we want to show that it doesn’t have to be this way – politics can be used to build something better and deliver a New Ireland rooted in fairness and ambition.

“To do that we need to have the strongest team possible and I’m confident that SDLP MLAs, supported by colleagues across the party, are in a position to hold the Executive to account and demand better for families here.”

SDLP Leader of the Opposition Matthew O’Toole MLA said: “It is clear for all to see that this Executive is failing while people suffer under collapsing public services, stalled infrastructure projects and environmental crisis like the toxic algae choking Lough Neagh.

“We don’t have to accept this as normal. This reshuffle gives the SDLP the most experienced and driven team in Stormont to hold the Executive to account and that is exactly what we intend to do.

“This refreshed Opposition will play its part in demanding more from the Executive, but also in setting out the kind of solutions and ambition that people here deserve.

“That means a reduction in soaring childcare costs, a health service that actually works, a housing system that delivers for families, real action to tackle the environmental emergencies that threaten our future, from polluted rivers to Lough Neagh, and delivery on major infrastructure projects.”

The new SDLP Official Opposition team

Following the changes, the SDLP Official Opposition team is as follows:

• Matthew O’Toole MLA – Leader of the Opposition and Spokesperson for Finance
• Sinéad McLaughlin MLA – Opposition Spokesperson for Economy and the Executive Office
• Colin McGrath MLA – Opposition Spokesperson for Health and the party’s representative on the Northern Ireland Policing Board
• Mark H Durkan MLA – Opposition Spokesperson for Communities
• Daniel McCrossan MLA – Opposition Spokesperson for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs
• Cara Hunter MLA – Opposition Spokesperson for Education
• Patsy McNulty MLA – Opposition Spokesperson for Justice
• Justin McNulty MLA – Opposition Spokesperson for Infrastructure

In January 2020 when the Executive was restored and d’Hondt was applied, all eligible parties accepted the invitation to nominate Ministers, with no “official opposition” formed. Smaller parties, not in the Executive Committee, performed and “unofficial opposition” role.

After the election on May 5, 2022, however, the SDLP was no longer entitled to nominate a Minister with only eight seats, but under the new rules, declared it would become the official opposition.

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