Labour Party of Northern Ireland

The Labour Party of Northern Ireland (LPNI) was established in 1985 on the initiative of Paddy Devlin and Billy Blease. The LPNI involved some of those people who in 1978 had created the United Labour Party (ULP), although the ULP had ceased to exist at the time the LPNI was formed. The LPNI had branches in Belfast and Coleraine. The party fought seats in the Local Government elections of 1985. The LPNI won a local government seat in a by-election in Newtownabbey in 1987; the by-election was caused by the resignation of two Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) councillors. Bob Purdie was Secretary of the LPNI when it was first formed.