People Before Profit Alliance
| People Before Profit Alliance | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Collective Leadership |
| Founded | October 2005 |
| Headquarters |
26 Elmwood Avenue, Ranelagh, Dublin 6 |
| Ideology |
Democratic socialism,[1] Trotskyism[2] |
| Political position | Left-wing to Far-left[3] |
| National affiliation | United Left Alliance |
| Colours | Brown |
| Dáil Éireann |
1 / 166 |
| Local government in the Republic of Ireland |
14 / 949 |
| Local Government (NI) |
1 / 462 |
| Website | |
| peoplebeforeprofit.ie | |
|
Politics of the Republic of Ireland | |
The People Before Profit Alliance (PBPA) is an Irish political party formed in October 2005.[4] It is active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Overview
The PBPA was established by the Socialist Workers Party. The Community & Workers Action Group of south Dublin (CWAG) joined the Alliance in 2007 and brought along the party's first elected representative, Joan Collins, anti-bin tax campaigner and former member of the Socialist Party. At present, it is a broad left alliance that seeks to gather support against neoliberalism, war, and pursues other left-wing issues, but does not require members to be Marxists or to subscribe to a revolutionary socialist programme.
Republic of Ireland
The Alliance contested several constituencies in the 2007 general election, polling around 9,000 first preferences, with Richard Boyd Barrett—a member of the Socialist Workers Party and the candidate in the Dun Laoghaire constituency—missing a seat on the 10th and final count by 7,890 votes to 9,910.[5][6] A small number of the Alliance's 2007 general election candidates previously ran as SWP candidates: these include Gino Kenny,[7] Brid Smith[8] and Richard Boyd Barrett.[9]
In May 2008, the Alliance launched a campaign calling for a No vote to the Lisbon Treaty when it was put to the people.[10]
In the Republic's 2009 local elections the Alliance ran twelve candidates, including ten in County Dublin. The Alliance secured five seats in three of Dublin's four councils. As well as ten members of the SWP, the Alliance ran Joan Collins and Pat Dunne of the CWAG in Dublin,[11] and Donnie Fell (a former Waterford Crystal worker and trade union representative) in Waterford.[12]
In the Republic's 2011 general election, both Richard Boyd Barrett and Joan Collins were elected to Dáil Éireann as TDs (deputies), running under a joint People Before Profit and United Left Alliance banner. The average expenses claim by a People Before Profit Alliance TD between the February 2011 general election and the last day of December 2011 was €31,866.[13]
In April 2013 Joan Collins TD and Cllr Pat Dunne left the Alliance to form United Left a political party with former Socialist Party TD Clare Daly.
In the May 2014 local elections, the party won 14 seats including two seats outside Dublin on Sligo and Wexford County Councils. The party's European Parliament candidate, Brid Smith, failed to get elected in Dublin.
Northern Ireland
People Before Profit unsuccessfully ran one candidate, Sean Mitchell, in the 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election, polling 774 first preferences in the Belfast West constituency. He successfully gained the right to stand in an election by threatening to take the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Hain, to court if the legal loophole preventing him from doing so was enforced. (England, Scotland and Wales had secured the right to contest candidates under the age of 20, providing they were over 18, for constituencies for devolved government, whereas Northern Ireland had been simply excluded).
The People Before Profit Alliance ran four candidates in the Northern Ireland Assembly election of May 2011, winning 5,438 first-preference votes between them but no seats in the new Assembly. Its most successful candidate in this election was Eamonn McCann, who won 3,120 first-preference votes, or 8% of the total, in Foyle.
In the June 2011 Belfast West by-election, Gerry Carroll won 1,751 votes (7.6%), coming in third place and ahead of both unionist candidates.
In the 2014 Belfast City Council election, Gerry Carroll became the first PBP councilor elected in Northern Ireland, winning 3rd place in the Black Mountain DEA, with 1,691 1st Preference votes.
Election results and governments
| City and Council Seats | |
|---|---|
| Belfast City |
1 / 60 |
| Dublin City |
5 / 63 |
| Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown |
3 / 40 |
| Fingal |
1 / 40 |
| Sligo |
1 / 18 |
| South Dublin |
3 / 40 |
| Wexford |
1 / 34 |
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland Assembly elections
| Election | Assembly | First Preference Vote | Vote % | Seats | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 3rd | 774 | 0.1% | 0 / 108 |
DUP–Sinn Féin–SDLP–UUP–Alliance |
| 2011 | 4th | 5,438 | 0.8% | 0 / 108 |
DUP–Sinn Féin–UUP–SDLP–Alliance |
Westminister elections
| Election | Assembly | Votes | Vote % | Seats | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 55th | 2,936 | 0.0% | 0 / 18 |
Conservative Party–Liberal Democrats |
Republic of Ireland
Dáil Éireann elections
| Election | Dáil | First Preference Vote | Vote % | Seats | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 30th | 9,333 | 0.5% | 0 / 166 |
Fianna Fáil–Green Party-Progressive Democrats |
| 2011 | 31st | 21,551 | 1.0% | 2 / 166 |
Fine Gael–Labour Party |
Local Government elections
| Election | Country | First Preference Vote | Vote % | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Republic of Ireland | 15,879 | 0.8% | 5 / 883 |
| 2011 | Northern Ireland | 1,721 | 0.3% | 0 / 583 |
| 2014 | Northern Ireland | 1,923 | 0.3% | 1 / 462 |
| 2014 | Republic of Ireland | 29,051 | 1.7% | 14 / 949 |
European elections
The People Before Profit Alliance have so far only contested European Elections in the Republic of Ireland.
| Election | First Preference Vote | Vote % | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 23,875 | 1.5% | 0 / 11 |
See also
References
- ↑ "IRELAND: Legislative elections: Dáil Éireann, 5-year term, proportional representation system (STV)". Parties and Elections in Europe.
- ↑ Nordsieck, Wolfram. "Parties and Elections in Europe – The database about parliamentary elections and political parties in Europe".
- ↑ http://europedecides.eu/candidates/election-lists/ie/
- ↑ "People Before Profit".
- ↑ "RTÉ 2007 election website".
- ↑ "Ciarán Cuffe". ElectionsIreland.org.
- ↑ "Gino Kenny". ElectionsIreland.org.
- ↑ "Brid Smith". ElectionsIreland.org.
- ↑ "Richard Boyd Barrett". ElectionsIreland.org.
- ↑ "People before profit alliance". Retrieved 4 June 2010.
- ↑ "Pat Dunne". ElectionsIreland.org.
- ↑ Kelly, Olivia (7 May 2009). "Left alliance to run 13 candidates". The Irish Times. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
- ↑ "This is how much your TD claimed in expenses in 2011". The Journal.ie. 3 February 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
External links
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||