SDLP leader Colum Eastwood steps down

Derry Journal

Colum Eastwood stepped down as the leader of the SDLP on 29-08-2024 in Derry.

Transcript

00:00Well look, it has been the privilege of my life to be the MP for Derry. My first

00:07job has always been to represent the people of this city and I've been very

00:11proud to be able to do that. That's a job I'm going to continue to do for as long

00:16as the people of Derry will have me and I will continue to work day and night to

00:22represent them in Westminster, to fight for the people of this city and to be a

00:27voice for change for them. It has also been a great privilege to be the leader

00:33for almost a decade, for nine years of the party that I joined when I was 14 or

00:3915 years old under John Hume to fight for the Good Friday Agreement, to support

00:44the work of what I think is actually the most successful political party on

00:48these islands. It made a massive contribution to ending the Anglo-Irish conflict and I

00:54have been really privileged to be the leader of the SDLP. The bottom line

01:00though is this last few years has been a period of immense change across these

01:05islands. What we have seen after Brexit really has been really unstable

01:12in many ways but also been a moment of opportunity and now that we have the

01:18three strands, all the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement in a

01:22better place, in a more stable place, this is also now a big moment I think of

01:27change for this island and I for one want to give my full commitment to

01:33leading in that space. I want to be a voice for leading for change, to develop

01:39a new Ireland, to make the case for change across this island and I need to

01:43be able to have the space to do that, the time to do that. Some people maybe don't

01:48realise how much effort you have to put in to the day-to-day running of a

01:53political party and while I've been privileged and happy to do that, the

01:57moment now has come for me to step aside, to allow other people to take on that

02:01mantle, to allow myself actually to focus on things that I need to focus on

02:07primarily representing the people of this city but also making the case for a

02:13new Ireland, making the case for change across this island. That's the work that

02:17I'm very passionate about, that's the work I'm committed to do. So today I have

02:22told the party chairman that I will be resigning as leader of the SDLP at the

02:29upcoming party conference on the 5th of October and being there as a loyal

02:35servant of the party and to the next leader. I look forward to working with

02:41the new leader, making sure that our voice is heard now at Westminster with a

02:46new Labour government, we've got lots of very strong connections, we'll continue

02:49to do that work but it's now after a long period in leadership, now time

02:57to give somebody else a chance and to re-energise the party and I look

03:02forward to being there to support that.

03:04Colin, of course the success of any political leader is measured on electoral performance.

03:10There are now fewer MPs, MLAs and Councillors in the SDLP than when you first took up this job.

03:16How can you look back at your time in charge and not see it as a failure when you look at it in that context?

03:20Well look, I mean I think everybody understands when I took this job as SDLP

03:26leader, the party was in a bad place, it needed modernised, it needed refreshed, it needed to

03:30bring in lots of new talent. We brought in a whole generation of people and we

03:35challenged some of the thinking actually within the party. We took much more

03:39progressive views and positions on many many issues. I think we actually brought

03:44the party back to its radical beginnings and that for me was very important and

03:50somebody else now will have to take that forward. Every political party goes

03:54through ups and downs electorally. Most people understand it's been a very

03:59difficult context for the SDLP and for the middle ground more generally but

04:04when we're standing here in Derry, this is a place where we took a seat back

04:08from Sinn Féin. In South Down we took a seat back from the DUP and we held both

04:13of those seats just a few weeks ago. That's not the norm for the SDLP so I

04:18think we're now in a good place, a better place with a new change in context, a

04:23strong opposition led by Matthew O'Toole to take on this new executive to provide

04:29hope to people and let's just see what the future brings but I'll be there to

04:34support whoever the new leader is and helping to continue that good work.

04:40I was asked this morning Colm what the point was of the SDLP. Would you like to

04:44answer that question at this juncture now as you prepare to exit the stage?

04:47What is the point of the SDLP at this stage? Well the SDLP has had a few different

04:51phases in our existence. We came out of the civil rights movement of course and

04:54then the party set about ending the Anglo-Irish conflict, set the parameters

04:59for what became the Good Friday Agreement. That for me has been an

05:03enormous change in our society, a fantastic opportunity for my generation

05:09and generations to come to live in peace and democracy. Now we have to set

05:13out the case for the future. For me the future is about building towards a new

05:18Ireland. We've had over 25 years of peace, stop-start government, not very

05:23successful between some of the other parties running this place. Now

05:27the opportunity is there to set out the case for change and for the future. For

05:32me that's when the SDLP is best, when we're dealing with those big issues and

05:35setting out a plan for the future. I will play my part in that, the party will

05:40play its part, but this will be a job of work for lots of people across

05:45democratic Ireland. I'm looking forward to playing my part in that.

05:49Colin, was this your decision or did somebody in the party come to you and say time is up?

05:53Because you've just set out what you want to do to push for a new Ireland, to work for that.

05:57It seems that the perfect place to do that is as leader of a political party.

06:00Well look, first of all this is absolutely my decision. I've taken

06:04time to make that decision. I've spoken to others about it. You don't often get

06:10actually to pick your own moment and I think I'm glad that I've been able to do

06:15that. Look, you can play different roles in politics. I have been a party activist

06:21first and foremost. I'm committed to the principles of the SDLP, but almost more

06:26importantly to the cause of delivering a new Ireland and it just is an awful lot

06:32of work over nine years to have to deal with all of the day-to-day

06:37issues of running a political party and I feel kind of much freer now to be able

06:42to go and do that work that is the work of this generation. The work of this new

06:46generation is to deliver a new United Ireland for all of our people, to end the

06:51division in our communities, to end the division in terms of people being left

06:56behind in places like this, but also to end the division of partition which has

07:00held us back and held back the opportunities of generations. So that's

07:03the work I'm going to do. I'll do it in a slightly different way, but I will be

07:07very committed and actually have more time to get on with that.

07:11Colm, are you saying that you're going to be taking a more significant role in the SDLP's New Ireland Commission?

07:16Well, look, I set up the New Ireland Commission because I could see the

07:21challenge ahead and the opportunity ahead. That New Ireland Commission now

07:25needs to take on a more energised approach to this cause and case and I

07:32intend to be fully involved in doing that.

07:34Would you like to see a border boom in the next 10 years?

07:37Well, I think I've been very careful and try not to put dates on those types of

07:41things because what I would like to see most importantly is the people of

07:45Ireland coming together and the democratic leaders of the people of

07:47Ireland coming together and setting out a case so when there is a referendum we

07:52actually win a referendum. So what I will be relentlessly focused on is

07:56making the case for winning a referendum and for actually building a nation and

08:01when the referendum comes we want to be in a position to win.

08:04Colm, in terms of your longer term future, do you envisage standing again for this seat come the next

08:10general election or just pass the last one? In terms of your successor, do you have a preferred candidate?

08:15Is Clare Hannault Davey a good job?

08:17Well, look, I was looking back on, it's funny, the things you don't think about when you're in the

08:22middle of the job, but I was looking back on the last couple of days and just

08:25the length of time I've actually been elected. I was first elected as a

08:28councillor in Derry when I was 22 years old. It's almost 20 years. I first and

08:35foremost want to represent the people of Derry. That's what I really love doing.

08:38I will continue to do that for as long as they have me and I think I've been a

08:42strong advocate and champion for them in Westminster. I want to keep doing that.

08:46I am not envisaging at all stepping away from that role. In fact, I'll have more

08:51time for that role and I actually can't wait to get stuck in. In terms of what

08:55happens next, look, the STLP membership decide who the party leader is, but

09:01look, there's lots of very talented people in the STLP leaders, broader

09:06leadership team. Matthew O'Toole is doing a fantastic job as leader of the

09:10opposition. I've worked with Clare Hannault for a long time. We've been friends for

09:14many, many years, come up through the party together. We've worked so closely

09:19together in Westminster and one of the things about being a party leader or the

09:23leader of any organisation is you get to figure out what leadership takes. I have

09:28absolutely no doubt in my mind that Clare Hannault has what it takes to be the

09:32leader of the STLP. She'd be far and away the best option for the members, so if

09:38this is my opportunity to be the first person to endorse Clare Hannault, I

09:42absolutely take it and I hope that, it's up to Clare, but I hope she puts her name

09:46forward and I hope the party endorses her.

09:49Comment's been said before that the STLP can't be led from Westminster. What's your

09:56assessment of that situation? Look, the STLP has to play in many different

10:00pitches. I mean, the nature of being in politics in the north of Ireland is that

10:05there are different parliaments in different places. The STLP is led at

10:09Westminster by Matthew O'Toole very well and when actually that opposition gets a

10:13chance, I think you'll see great advances there, but Clare will, I think if

10:19she is the STLP leader, will be able to do that job very well. There's a job of

10:25leading the party in Stormont, there's a job of all the other stuff that people

10:29don't see, there's a leading the party. There's also a job of leading the party,

10:32you know, in terms of the direction, in terms of the politics and the ideas. I

10:36just, I don't think there's anyone better than Clare Hannault and she's used the

10:40platform actually of Westminster to make the most of that and to set out the

10:44case for change here.

10:49All good? Thanks guys, thank you.

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