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Colum Eastwood
Colum Eastwood (born 30 April 1983) is an Irish nationalist politician who served as Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) from 2015 to 2024. He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Foyle since 2019, served in the Northern Ireland Assembly from 2011 to 2019 and served on Derry City Council from 2005 to 2011.
Eastwood was first elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2011 and was re-elected in 2016 and 2017. He was also the SDLP candidate at the 2019 European Parliament election to represent Northern Ireland. In December 2019 he was elected to the British House of Commons as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Foyle.
Eastwood was born in Derry, where he was educated at St John's Primary School (Creggan) and at St Columb's College. He later attended the University of Liverpool, where he studied Latin American Studies though he did not finish his degree.
Eastwood joined the SDLP in 1998 at age 14 to campaign for the Good Friday Agreement. He "was drawn to the party by Hume, Seamus Mallon and the other political giants of that time that fundamentally changed politics across the island."
He was elected to Derry City Council in 2005 aged 22, and elected for a one-year term as Mayor of Derry in June 2010. Aged 27, he was the youngest mayor of the city to date.
Following his election to the Northern Ireland Assembly in May 2011, Eastwood was appointed SDLP representative on the committee of the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister. He sat on the Northern Ireland Assembly committees on Standards and Privileges, and the Environment and was appointed to the post of Assembly Private Secretary to the Minister of the Environment Alex Attwood in 2010.
In 2012 he drew criticism from Unionists including Jim Allister after carrying the coffin at the paramilitary funeral of a former Irish National Liberation Army member in Derry. A masked Real Irish Republican Army gunman fired a volley of shots over the coffin, although Eastwood stated he was not present at the time of the gunfire. He defended his attendance at the funeral saying the deceased was a personal friend and added "I wasn't concerned at the time about who was standing beside me, or about what flag or otherwise was draped over the coffin." It later emerged that party colleague Mark H. Durkan also attended the funeral.
On 14 November 2015, Eastwood contested the leadership election held at the SDLP's annual conference. He beat the incumbent, Alasdair McDonnell, by 172 votes to 133. Eastwood was re-elected to the NI Assembly in 2016 and 2017, receiving 5,000 and 7,240 first preference votes, respectively.
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Colum Eastwood
Colum Eastwood (born 30 April 1983) is an Irish nationalist politician who served as Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) from 2015 to 2024. He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Foyle since 2019, served in the Northern Ireland Assembly from 2011 to 2019 and served on Derry City Council from 2005 to 2011.
Eastwood was first elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2011 and was re-elected in 2016 and 2017. He was also the SDLP candidate at the 2019 European Parliament election to represent Northern Ireland. In December 2019 he was elected to the British House of Commons as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Foyle.
Eastwood was born in Derry, where he was educated at St John's Primary School (Creggan) and at St Columb's College. He later attended the University of Liverpool, where he studied Latin American Studies though he did not finish his degree.
Eastwood joined the SDLP in 1998 at age 14 to campaign for the Good Friday Agreement. He "was drawn to the party by Hume, Seamus Mallon and the other political giants of that time that fundamentally changed politics across the island."
He was elected to Derry City Council in 2005 aged 22, and elected for a one-year term as Mayor of Derry in June 2010. Aged 27, he was the youngest mayor of the city to date.
Following his election to the Northern Ireland Assembly in May 2011, Eastwood was appointed SDLP representative on the committee of the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister. He sat on the Northern Ireland Assembly committees on Standards and Privileges, and the Environment and was appointed to the post of Assembly Private Secretary to the Minister of the Environment Alex Attwood in 2010.
In 2012 he drew criticism from Unionists including Jim Allister after carrying the coffin at the paramilitary funeral of a former Irish National Liberation Army member in Derry. A masked Real Irish Republican Army gunman fired a volley of shots over the coffin, although Eastwood stated he was not present at the time of the gunfire. He defended his attendance at the funeral saying the deceased was a personal friend and added "I wasn't concerned at the time about who was standing beside me, or about what flag or otherwise was draped over the coffin." It later emerged that party colleague Mark H. Durkan also attended the funeral.
On 14 November 2015, Eastwood contested the leadership election held at the SDLP's annual conference. He beat the incumbent, Alasdair McDonnell, by 172 votes to 133. Eastwood was re-elected to the NI Assembly in 2016 and 2017, receiving 5,000 and 7,240 first preference votes, respectively.