Counting up the members
Local statistics are sketchy but political party membership appears to be holding up. Smaller parties, though, are more open about their figures than their larger counterparts.
The size of an organisation’s membership is a sign of its health, whatever the sector, but politics is one area where figures really count. Rival parties and candidates fight for a limited number of seats at election time, backed up by the grassroots volunteers needed to put up posters and knock the doors. Leadership contests depend on candidates swaying supporters in one direction or another.
House of Commons research shows that party membership in Great Britain has declined since the 1950s, although rises took place under charismatic leaders such as Thatcher and Blair. Figures are patchy but in 2008, there were around 250,000 Conservatives, 166,000 Labour Party members, 60,000 Liberal Democrats and 15,000 Scottish Nationalists.
agendaNi has surveyed the parties represented in the Assembly (Alliance, DUP, Greens, SDLP, Sinn Féin, UUP) or with more than one councillor (Conservatives, PUP, TUV) about their membership figures, types and fees. The DUP declined to respond and the PUP declined to give a reason for joining.
Alliance had the highest stated membership, currently at 1,215. It was steady at 1,090 in December 2009 and 1,070 at the end of 2008.
TUV activists number around 600, while there were 380 local Tories in December 2009; this was up from 350 at the end of 2008. The 144 Greens increased from 107 in March 2009 and 98 twelve months previously. The PUP’s tally has stayed around the 100-120 mark over the last four years.
The SDLP does not publish its membership figures although a spokesman was prepared to say that it “stands in the thousands and has grown steadily over the past five years.”
Figures for Sinn Féin were unavailable as the party was changing its definition of membership.
“Previously it was just members of a cumann [branch],” a spokesman commented. “Now is wider with people being free to choose whether they become cumann members or not.”
At present, the highest subscription is Alliance’s with a standard rate of £43.50. Joint membership is £75.00 and benefit claimants and students have a £10 rate. Sinn Féin has no membership fee at present, although that may change when the new model is introduced.
The norm for standard membership fees is £20-£30. The UUP charges £30 for 25-64 year olds, all Conservatives pay £25 and this is the standard rate for Traditional Unionists too. An SDLP subscription costs £20. The Green rate is £10.
Discounts are available. Older or younger Ulster Unionists have a £20 rate, the SDLP’s unwaged rate is £10 and the TUV has the same fee for students, senior citizens and the unemployed. The Green concessionary fee is £5. Each PUP member must make a £5 contribution for central party funds.
The SDLP appears to have the largest youth branch. SDLP Youth membership “stands in the hundreds”; the group has bases in all northern university campuses and Trinity College Dublin.
Ógra Shinn Féin, meanwhile, claims to be “the only all-Ireland political youth group as well as the fastest growing.”
Alliance’s youth branch has 81 members. Conservative Future’s Northern Ireland branch numbers 50 members. UUP youth branches exist through the province and membership figures are included in the main party membership number.
There is “some interest” in setting up a TUV youth branch but the PUP’s one is defunct. The Irish Greens have a youth organisation but no local branch in Northern Ireland.
Three surveyed parties, of course, have a reach beyond Northern Ireland: Sinn Féin, the Greens and Conservatives.
Non-northerners can join the SDLP as associate members; it has party groups in London and Dublin. Alliance has a 45- strong Great Britain association and a small overseas association of 10 members.
Ulster Unionists outside Northern Ireland are also associate members, with no voting rights; there are no external UUP branches. The TUV has some members, but no again branches, in Great Britain.
Overseas Tories, including Republic of Ireland residents, take part in the Conservatives Abroad organisation. Sinn Féin does not accept members outside the island but has an international support group, Cairde Sinn Féin (Friends of Sinn Féin), with branches in Canada, Australia and the USA.
For his part, a Green spokesman remarked that it gets “the occasional member from England or Scotland who like to be members of all the Green parties on these isles.”
