Margaret Ritchie interview
Peter Cheney talks to the new SDLP leader about her plans for nationalism and aims for the forthcoming Westminster poll.
Taking the economy seriously and bringing more power to Northern Ireland are two major priorities for Margaret Ritchie as she takes up her party’s leadership. While she takes on that job on the eve of another election contest after a long electoral decline, the new SDLP leader believes the party still offers a real alternative to its rivals.
Ritchie has spent 30 years in the party, serving as a Down councillor from 1985 to last year, a Northern Ireland Forum member from 1996 to 1998, and South Down MLA since 2003. Eddie McGrady was her political mentor and she ran his constituency office for several years.
“I think the proudest moment for us,” she recalls from her council career, “was achieving a new hospital with a wide range of services after a campaign that [took] nearly 40 years.”
Her priorities are two-fold: to attract new members, new voters and those who have “gone away” from the party; and a “revitalisation plan” to make the party stronger. This involves focusing on the ‘distinctives’ that set the SDLP apart from its main opponents i.e. in Sinn Féin.
“Many would say they have camped on our ground. Whilst they may have camped on our ground, there are three areas where we are totally distinctive namely the economy, the shared future and Irish unity. And these three pillars are interlinked.”
Republican
Ritchie sees all three as “outstanding items” from the party’s original agenda and thinks that the vast majority of nationalists would support a party which stands for those ideals. Ideologically, she is firmly centre-left and is also keen to claim the term ‘republican’ as well.
“When people say republican in many instances they talk about a violent form of republicanism but republicanism is about uniting people, it’s about reconciling people, it’s about bringing people together.” The SDLP should also be back at the centre of politics, she remarks when asked about her stated ambition to be First Minister.
It was put to her, though, that there is now a wide electoral gap between the two parties and it would be hard to make up the distance. For the record, that gulf in votes was 6,068 at the 2001 Westminster poll, 45,211 two years later and 75,409 in 2007.
In response, Ritchie explained that she finds people being “by and large fed up … sick of division, sick of sectarian politics” and are looking for an alternative vision. The SDLP, she contends, is moving forward and offers that. Many young people, especially, believe in developing a shared society: “They don’t see the boundaries and the divisions between themselves and their friends who possess a different political perspective.”
Voluntary coalition is ruled out, at least for now, as the Good Friday Agreement’s arrangements need to be shown to work over a longer period of time. Any alternative could be considered “maybe at some stage later”.
South Down, with its good community relations, stands out as example which she clearly wants the rest of the province to follow. “It’s about bringing people together, looking at what unites us rather than divides us, and working together on those issues and we are genuine on that,” Ritchie states.
Practically, she wants the SDLP to support greater integration in education and highlight the shared history of both communities, from St Patrick up to serving together in the British army during both world wars.
Unity, in Ritchie’s opinion, involves a “united people” not just “united territory” and nationalists have to spell out what it would mean in detail. One proposal is for the Irish Cabinet to include guaranteed seats for northern ministers.
Formal mergers and alliances with other parties are ruled out in the near future but she has spent a considerable time meeting the leaders of the main southern groupings. A new forum on Irish unity with like-minded parties is also suggested, as is an all-island environmental protection agency.
Extra powers 
On the economic point, Northern Ireland lacks financial levers. “It’s like cake,” the nation block grant is described. “We simply divide that up and we don’t have anything else.”
While the Programme for Government prioritises the economy, she wants to see a long-term economic plan. Again, this is two-fold: greater economic integration with the Republic and seeking further devolution from Britain.
“For me, it’s not the end. The devolution of policing and justice marks the end of this phase of politics but I think we now need to move forward into a different phase which is about consensus building, accommodation.”
Four areas are earmarked for extra devolution: fisheries, telecoms, broadcasting and corporation tax. Broadcasting, it was pointed out, would be hard to devolve as the BBC is nation wide but, in response, she says some control could be transferred e.g. to require more local programming.
Her tax views were confirmed by the Northern Ireland Economic Reform Group in February but the Treasury has consistently refused to make that move. “I never accept no as an answer,” Ritchie continues, commenting that she knows the Conservatives are “open to be persuaded” about extra devolution.
“In politics, anything and everything is possible because politics is the art of the possible. It’s not about saying no all the time or putting up barriers or impediments.”
A long-term financial framework agreed with the British and Irish governments is also proposed; this would gradually reduce the block grant and give the Executive an incentive to improve the economy locally.
Westminster
With a general election approaching, her aims are to hold the party’s three seats and also increase its percentage share of the vote. That share was 17.5 per cent in 2005, 15.2 per cent in 2007 and 16.2 per cent in 2009.
“I believe that we have the vision, we have the policies, we have integrity and honesty to bring that forward and a strong quality of representation has been provided over many years to the voters,” she comments.
Abstention is the traditional dividing line between Sinn Féin and the SDLP in Westminster campaigns and, in her view, it’s “very important” for MPs to take their seats. Sinn Féin MPs abstain from Parliament in protest against British rule and the party has pointed out that most nationalist voters (57.8 per cent in 2005) now back that position.
Social security was one practical reason which Ritchie put forward for the SDLP’s approach, drawing from her ministerial work. Assembly laws on this subject are carried over from Parliament, to ensure parity with Britain.
“A party that are absent from Westminster are always carping on about the legislation but it matters that they do not take their seats or influence it.”
To take up an analogy from over the water, she was asked about any similarities between her and another party leader called Margaret. Not in political vision, she remarks, but some comparisons about determination, commitment, enthusiasm and being an “early morning person” were drawn out.
The justice dispute
SDLP members have emphasised that a nationalist is entitled to the Justice Minister post, due to the Good Friday Agreement. Under the current arithmetic, excluding OFMDFM, there are six unionist and four nationalist ministers and running d’Hondt would result in five nationalists.
Ritchie claimed during the interview that Alliance was a unionist party, a statement vehemently rejected by Alliance. That party is also designated as ‘other’ i.e. neither unionist nor nationalist, in the Assembly. She went on say that this was not about “making a job” for the SDLP but instead about democracy and representing its voters.
Allocating a ministry under d’Hondt would, of course, mean re-running the whole process and there is no guarantee that the SDLP would receive that brief. The party accepts that point but says it would at least be entitled to two ministries and the parties could agree who takes which ministry in advance. Both the DUP and Sinn Féin have said they would not take the post initially.
