Northern Ireland Assembly Opposition


The role of official opposition in the Northern Ireland Assembly can be taken by larger political parties who do not participate in Northern Ireland's consociational power-sharing Executive. Forming an Assembly Opposition empowers opposition parties to scrutinise the work of government, giving them financial assistance, enhanced speaking rights in the chamber and the right to chair certain committees.
While the Assembly and Executive had been in operation since 1998 and 1999, respectively, the Assembly Opposition was only established in 2016, as part of the Fresh Start Agreement. The opportunity was first taken by the Ulster Unionist Party and Social Democratic and Labour Party for the Assembly's fifth term, following the May 2016 assembly election.

Opposition in previous legislatures

Northern Ireland was governed from 1921 to 1972 by a bicameral Parliament, where in the lower House of Commons the largest and therefore the governing party was consistently the Ulster Unionist Party. It could have been expected, following the Westminster system, that the role of official Opposition would be taken by largest party outside of government, which was consistently an Irish nationalist party. However, during this time members of the nationalist opposition often practised a policy of abstentionism where they would run for seats in the parliament but refuse to take them if elected, in order not to give legitimacy to British rule or the partition of the island. Nationalist Party members refused to take their seats in the legislature until 1924, and resumed the abstentionist policy in the 1930s to protest the abolition of proportional representation. From 1937, Thomas Joseph Campbell and Richard Byrne were the only Nationalist MPs to take their seats until Byrne's death in 1942 and Campbell's resignation in 1945.
It was not until February 1965 that the Nationalist Party agreed to accept recognition as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons. Eddie McAteer served as Leader of the Opposition for the remainder of the tenth term and through the eleventh term until he lost his seat in the 1969 election. Roderick O'Connor succeeded McAteer as Nationalist Party leader but the party again withdrew from its role as Official Opposition for the twelfth and final term.
The majority-rule Parliament was abolished and replaced in 1973 by a unicameral Northern Ireland Assembly. An Executive was formed in which unionist, nationalist and cross-community parties shared power for the first time. However, that government only lasted from January to May 1974, and from then until the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 Northern Ireland was ruled directly by the British Government.

Participation

The legal basis for the Assembly Opposition was established by the Assembly and Executive Reform Act 2016. Under section 2, a party may join the official Opposition if it meets one or both of two criteria:
The UUP and SDLP consistently fulfil both criteria, while Alliance fulfilled the second in the 2017 election having returned eight members. Meanwhile, the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin would currently be excluded from entering opposition if they wished to, because as the largest unionist and largest nationalist party they must participate in the Executive.
The Assembly Opposition Act recognises the offices of Leader of the Largest Non-Executive Party and Leader of the Second-Largest Non-Executive Party, although these positions may be given alternative names.

Benefits of official status

Following the Assembly Opposition Act, the standing orders which regulate how the Assembly conducts its business were amended on 14 March 2016 to provide the Assembly Opposition with:
The Assembly Opposition Act also required standing orders to grant:
and amended the Financial Assistance for Political Parties Act 2000 to give Assembly Opposition parties additional funding.