Claire Hanna has told of her determination to grow the SDLP to make it “relevant for the modern political landscape” as she confirmed she will seek to be elected the party’s next leader.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Ms Hanna officially put her name forward for the leadership of the party.
It comes after The Irish News revealed on Saturday that the South Belfast & Mid Down MP had told the SDLP’s elected representatives that she wants the top job.
I’ll be putting my name forward as leader of the SDLP. Statement here : pic.twitter.com/uGDTYQTIhM
— Claire Hanna (@ClaireHanna) September 1, 2024
Colum Eastwood announced his resignation as party leader on Thursday after nine years in the role.
Paying tribute to the outgoing leader, Ms Hanna said “in friendship and respect, I thank Colum Eastwood for his service during turbulent times, including 10 elections in just nine years”.
“His skills and instinct have been invaluable for the SDLP and politics as a whole,” she said.
“I know Colum will continue to serve people as a passionate MP for Derry, and play a substantial future role through our New Ireland Commission.”
Confirming she is seeking to be elected SDLP leader, Ms Hanna said: “Politics should be about finding practical solutions to the challenges faced by all our communities, that’s what motivates me every day.
“But people are losing faith that Stormont and politics more generally will deliver for them.
“They live with failing public services and a politics driven by division, dysfunction and pettiness.
“This period has also been challenging for our party.
“The SDLP must have the humility to recognise that we have to work harder to resonate with people and earn future electoral success.
“We have to listen more, organise better, and offer a fresh, compelling message of optimism and clarity of purpose.
“We must more actively engage voters, including those who didn’t grow up in the nationalist tradition, who share our social democratic and anti-sectarian principles, many of whom are curious about the potential of a reconciled new Ireland .
“We need to offer and campaign with a dual mission of making life better in the present, while building for a new Ireland, explaining why we believe constitutional change will improve people’s lives and opportunities.
“We have to make our values real for people and sell them relentlessly door to door. We need to recognise that too many towns and neighbourhoods don’t see or feel SDLP’s effort locally.
“We have a real opportunity to grow our electoral reach.”
Ms Hanna also said she believed that no other party is “fundamentally committed to tackling all three of the major divisions - inequality, sectarianism and partition - limiting our region’s potential”.
“No other party is driving accountability in Stormont, standing up for Northern Ireland in Westminster and actively shaping constitutional change,” she said.
“If I am selected by members to be SDLP leader, I’ll work determinedly with elected representatives, activists and new members we need to go out and recruit, to make SDLP values relevant for the modern political landscape, grow our vote and pursue our goal of the ending the divisions that have held people back for too long.”
Nominations for the vacant leader’s position close on Friday at noon with Ms Hanna expected to the sole candidate.
Candidates must be members of the Parliamentary and Assembly Group and must be nominated by at least six constituency branches or recognised SDLP groups of the party.
If Ms Hanna is the sole candidate, it means there will be no election and her leadership will be ratified at the SDLP conference on October 5.
She has already been endorsed by the departing Mr Eastwood and Matthew O’Toole, head of the SDLP’s assembly group.
