LAST UPDATE | 29 Aug

COLUM EASTWOOD HAS confirmed that he is to quit as leader of the SDLP.

Eastwood, speaking this afternoon, said it has been a “great privilege” to have been the leader of the party he joined when he was 14 or 15 for almost a decade.

He said he has told the party chairman that he will resign as leader at the party conference on October 5 and confirmed he will continue as MP for Foyle.

“The bottom line, though, is (that) this last few years has been a period of immense change across these islands,” he told media during a press conference in Derry.

“What we have seen after Brexit has been really unstable in many ways, but also been a moment of opportunity, and now that we have the three strands, all the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement, in a better place, a more stable place, this is also now a big moment of change for this island, and I, for one, want to give my full commitment to leading in that space.

“I want to be a voice for leading for change, to develop a new Ireland, to make the case for change across this island, and I need to be able to have to the space to do that, the time to do that,” he added. 

Eastwood said it had been his decision to resign as the SDLP leader.

“This is absolutely my decision. I have taken time to make that decision, I have spoken to others about it.

“You don’t often get to pick your own moment and I’ve been glad that I’ve been able to do that.

“You can play different roles in politics. I have been a party activist and, first and foremost, I am committed to the principles of the SDLP.

“Almost more importantly to the cause of delivering a new Ireland. It just is an awful lot of work over nine years to have to deal with all of the day-to-day issues of running a political party.

“I feel much freer now to be able to do and do that work, which is the work of this generation, to deliver a new united Ireland for all of our people.”

Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill has paid tribute to outgoing SDLP leader Colum Eastwood.

O’Neill said: “I want to wish Colum Eastwood and his family well as he steps down as leader of the SDLP today.

“We have worked together as leaders for many years now, to restore the political institutions in the north and in protecting the Good Friday Agreement and the all-island economy against efforts to impose the hardest possible Tory Brexit.

“I look forward to working with his successor as leader of the SDLP in a constructive manner for the good of all our people.

“Sinn Fein will continue to work with all parties in the Assembly and Executive to deliver for workers, families and public services.”

Eastwood became the The MP for Foyle and was the party’s youngest ever leader when he took up the post in 2015. He took over from Alasdair McDonnell following a leadership contest that he won by fewer than 40 votes.

The 41-year-old father of two also previously served as the mayor of Derry.

While Eastwood led the party as it consolidated its position in Westminster, the SDLP has failed to make progress at the Northern Ireland Assembly.

In the last Assembly elections in 2022, the party trailed in fifth – leaving it without a sufficient number of seats to be eligible for a place in the Northern Ireland Executive.

Claire Hanna, the MP for South Belfast and Mid Down, is considered to be among the front runners to be the new leader.

Hanna currently acts as the party’s deputy leader.

Eastwood was returned as the MP for the Foyle constituency at the beginning of July, claiming a majority of just over 4,000 votes.