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The Rev Dr Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). The strongly unionist DUP has recently become the most popular party in Northern Ireland.
Politics in Northern Ireland is particularly complex, due to the history of Northern Ireland, particularly ' The Troubles'. Until the 1960s the three main parties in Great Britain were mirrored in Northern Ireland, with the Ulster Unionist Party serving as the regional wing of the Conservative Party whilst the Ulster Liberal Party served a similar role for the Liberal Party. The Northern Ireland Labour Party was not as strongly tied to the UK Labour Party but the differences were not obvious. Also in existence were the Nationalist Party and Sinn Féin, both of whom were committed to the political unification of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
From the late 1960s until the mid- 1990s, Northern Ireland was plagued by civil unrest and paramilitarism, known as The Troubles. In the process the political parties were greatly disrupted. The Ulster Unionist Party discontinued its links with the Conservative Party in protest at the Sunningdale Agreement. The Ulster Liberal Party remained a part of the now Liberal Democratic Party but faced with marginal support it chose to form a sibling relationship with the Alliance Party. The Northern Ireland Labour Party folded amidst a widespread realignment of political parties; with the British party in theory entering into an alliance, through the Socialist International with the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party and retaining its policy (until recently) of refusing Northern Ireland residents membership of the party. Many other political parties have sprung up representing different strands of Unionism, nationalism or cross community politics, but few have lasted any substantial period of time.
More recently there have been calls for the mainstream British parties to organise and stand in elections in Northern Ireland. The Conservative Party has done so since the late 1980s but its support has been minimal whilst the Liberal Democrats have continued to endorse Alliance candidates.
The current government of Northern Ireland was established as a result of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement (GFA), properly known as the Belfast Agreement.
The collapse of the assembly created by the GFA accelerated the polarisation of Northern Ireland's politics, with the SDLP's eclipse by Sinn Fein (both of which are in favour of the agreement) in 2001 being mirrored by the anti-GFA DUP overtaking the UUP in the November 2003 poll for a new Assembly (which has yet to meet).
The main parties in Northern Ireland are:
There are many smaller parties both past and present, reflecting the turbulent changes in Northern Ireland politics. Most can be identified as either Unionist or nationalist, though a few seek to eschew any position on the "Border Question" (and invariably receive much less support). As a result the question of left-wing or right-wing politics is not as pertinent; although existing parties can be defined at some point on the political spectrum, few seek to promote a left or right wing agenda.
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