Leader of the Opposition (Northern Ireland)

In Northern Ireland, the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the largest eligible political party in the Northern Ireland Assembly that is not in the Northern Ireland Executive. The position is currently held by Matthew O'Toole of the Social Democratic and Labour Party.

Parliament of Northern Ireland
From the establishment of the Parliament of Northern Ireland in 1921, the Nationalist Party were consistently the largest non-government party; however, they intermittently practised a policy of abstentionism and never formally adopted the mantle of Official Opposition. Various Nationalist, Labour and Independent Unionist politicians performed an opposition role without any formal recognition.

After the 1958 election the Northern Ireland Labour Party won four seats and were asked by the Speaker to form the Official Opposition. Tom Boyd was appointed the first Leader of the Opposition.

In February 1965 the Nationalists decided that they would form the Official Opposition for the first time, and appointed their leader, Eddie McAteer, as Leader of the Opposition. He served in this role until October 1968 when the party withdrew from Stormont in response to the Government's response to the RUC's attack on a NICRA march in Derry.

From 1968 until the prorogation of the Parliament no other party agreed to form the Official Opposition and therefore no Leader of the Opposition was appointed.

Northern Ireland Assembly
When the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive were established in 1998 and 1999 respectively, all eligible parties were required to nominate ministers to serve on the Executive. No provision for an Official Opposition or for the role of Leader of the Opposition was made. Non-Executive parties continued to fulfil the role of an opposition in an unofficial capacity, much as various Nationalist and Labour MPs had done in the House of Commons.

The Assembly and Executive Reform (Assembly Opposition) Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 established provisions which allowed for a creation of an Official Opposition, with certain rights and entitlements associated with the role. Assembly standing orders subsequently made provision for the creation of a “Leader of the Opposition” and “Deputy Leader of the Opposition”, to be nominated by the largest and second-largest parties which are entitled to membership of the Official Opposition. After the 2016 election the UUP and SDLP decided to form the Official Opposition. However, neither party opted to nominate individuals to the roles of Leader and Deputy Leader.

Following the SDLP declining to nominate an Infrastructure Minister to the Executive, on the 25 July 2022 the SDLP formed an opposition and nominated Matthew O’Toole as the first Leader of the Opposition in the Northern Ireland Assembly.