SDLP leader Colum Eastwood has pledged to focus on “making the case for a new Ireland” as he confirmed his resignation after almost a decade in the role.
Speaking at a press conference in Derry on Thursday, the Foyle MP formally endorsed party colleague and fellow MP, Claire Hanna, to succeed him, describing her as “far and away the best option”.
Against the backdrop of the city, Mr Eastwood (41) told journalists it had been “the privilege of his life” to serve the people of Derry, and a “great privilege” to lead the SDLP for nine years after joining the party in his early teens.
As the second longest-serving leader after John Hume, he added that it was time for him to step aside and give someone else a chance to re-energise the party.
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Mr Eastwood insisted it was “absolutely” his own decision to leave.
He will continue as MP as well as working with the New Ireland Commission, a body he set up to look at Irish re-unification.
“The bottom line is that this last few years has been a period of immense change across these islands,” he said.
Acknowledging the recent electoral difficulties experienced by the party and the “middle ground generally”, he said the post-Brexit era was a period of instability but also “a moment of opportunity”.
“This is now also a moment, I think, of big change for this island and I for one want to give my full commitment to leading in that space. I want to be a voice for leading for change, to develop a new Ireland,” he added.
“I need to be able to have the space to do that, the time to do that, and some people don’t realise the effort you have to put in to the day-to-day running of a political party.
“The moment now has come for me to step aside and let other people take on that mantle and to allow myself actually to focus on things, primarily to represent the people of this city but also making the case for a new Ireland, the work that I am very passionate about.”
Mr Eastwood became the party’s youngest ever leader in 2015, after a tight leadership contest against Alasdair McDonnell.
Once the biggest nationalist party at Stormont, the SDLP was relegated to fifth place overall in the last Assembly election two years ago – leaving it without a sufficient number of seats to take a ministerial post in the Executive. It is now forms the Opposition, headed by MLA Matthew O’Toole.
Mr Eastwood will formally resign at the party conference on October 5th to allow the new leader to take up post.
Ms Hanna, who is MP for South Belfast and Mid Down, was not present at the press conference in Derry but is understood to have unanimous support within the party, with one veteran saying “there will be no leadership contest this time, it will be a coronation”.
Asked about who his successor might be, Mr Eastwood told reporters he had “absolutely no doubt” Ms Hanna had what it takes to be an SDLP leader.
“If this is my opportunity to be the first person to endorse Claire Hanna I’ll absolutely take it. It’s up to Claire but I hope she puts her name forward.”
Taoiseach Simon Harris paid tribute to Mr Eastwood, describing him a leader who “served with distinction” and with a “progressive, responsible and pragmatic voice on all issues, but especially the challenging ones”.
“As a leader he has been accessible, on the ground and close to his constituents in Derry and the issues that affected them,” he said.
“During Brexit, Colum served the entire island of Ireland with distinction in Westminster with passionate, timely and informed interventions in debates that otherwise neglected the peace process. For that, we all owe Colum a debt of gratitude.”
Stormont First Minister and Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O’Neill also paid tribute.
“I want to wish Colum Eastwood and his family well as he steps down as leader of the SDLP,” she said.
“We have worked together as leaders for many years now, to restore the political institutions in the North and in protecting the Good Friday Agreement and the all-island economy against efforts to impose the hardest possible Tory Brexit.
“I look forward to working with his successor as leader of the SDLP in a constructive manner for the good of all our people.”
