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