McDonnell considering bid for SDLP leadership

SDLP leader Margaret Ritchie could face a second challenger after South Belfast MP Alasdair McDonnell said he is being urged to step forward.

SDLP leader Margaret Ritchie could face a second challenger after South Belfast MP Alasdair McDonnell said he is being urged to step forward.

This comes after the deputy leader Patsy McGlone confirmed speculation that he will stand against Ms Ritchie at the party's November annual conference.

Mr McDonnell, who was beaten to the top job in 2010, said he is being encouraged to put his name forward again, but he has yet to decide.

Ms Ritchie has been under growing pressure since the SDLP lost two seats in May's Assembly election, which followed growing internal criticism of her leadership and her media performances.

Mid Ulster MLA Patsy McGlone said: "There comes a time when change is needed for the greater good. It is one of those times."

Having taken soundings within party ranks, he said he had decided to "step up to the mark".

Mr McGlone has formed a campaign team and will soon hold an official launch for his bid to gather the internal support needed to seize the SDLP's lead role.

He called for a change in the style of leadership, in delivering a clear party message and in building an effective grassroots organisation, all of which he said he had achieved in his own electoral area.

"I do what it says on the tin. I have done it in my own constituency. So I don't just say what I am going to do. I do it," he said.

He added: "There is a hunger for change. People know that. Really what I am saying is give me an opportunity."

But after he announced his plans, Mr McDonnell confirmed he was coming under pressure to launch a leadership bid of his own.

"Should the leadership of the SDLP open up, there is a large body of opinion urging me to go forward," said Mr McDonnell.

"I am still talking to people and I'm listening to people."

Mr McGlone later said he will fight on, regardless of whether or not alternative challengers emerge before the deadline for nominations in mid-September.

"I have made my decision. It is not a decision I have taken lightly," said Mr McGlone.

"This is not about Patsy McGlone, or Alasdair McDonnell or Margaret Ritchie. It is about the SDLP."

Ms Ritchie has said she will defend her leadership.

Prominent SDLP Upper Bann representative Dolores Kelly declined to back either the current leader or Mr McGlone and said she was obliged to discuss the issue first with her constituency party.

Over the last decade the SDLP has been eclipsed by Sinn Fein as the lead voice for nationalism and republicanism in Northern Ireland.

It has struggled to redefine its new political role and now faces a long and potentially damaging three-month leadership battle.

The SDLP lost two Assembly seats in the Assembly elections, which left the party with 14 seats to Sinn Fein's 29.

The results cemented the lead role at the Assembly of Sinn Féin and the DUP, who finished as the largest party with 38 seats.

The further decline in SDLP fortunes sparked public criticism of the leadership from Mr McGlone at the time.

He was later overlooked when Ms Ritchie appointed Alex Attwood to the SDLP's sole ministerial post at Stormont.

Mr McGlone was subsequently said to have refused an offer of a committee chair, fuelling speculation of disquiet in party ranks.

Announcing his intention to stand, the leadership candidate said: "I am proud of my Irishness and proud to offer myself as leader of a party which represents an Irishness of inclusivity, regardless of race, colour or creed.

"These core values, articulated by John Hume and Seamus Mallon, are precisely what attracted me to the SDLP in the first place."

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