Three modest reforms to make Stormont work again

Claire Hanna is the Leader of the SDLP

It’s not true to say that people in Northern Ireland can’t agree on anything because I think most of us would accept that Stormont isn’t working, and hasn’t done for some time.

Whilst my ambition is ultimately to see a new Ireland in the future, I don’t believe that this can be achieved by letting this place go to ruin, and nor do I want to see that. For me and for the SDLP, it is about a New Ireland but with a better Northern Ireland along the way.

Indeed, those who believe in the union surely should share the view that the current governance of this place is failing, and that we need to find a way to make Northern Ireland work. Similarly, those interested in a different constitutional future should seek to show competence in government; how can people be convinced we can deliver a New Ireland when the big parties can’t even agree on a budget?

Periodic collapse, policy paralysis, an inability to agree multi-year budgets and a steady erosion of public confidence have become familiar features of devolution. Recent evidence to the Covid Inquiry only underlined how damaging institutional dysfunction can be when good government matters most.

Last week, I wrote to the leaders of the Executive parties to ask them to join us in seeking a meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss a small number of modest institutional reforms. The aim is straightforward: to remove the default crisis setting in our politics and create a more stable environment in which the Executive can finally begin to address failing public services.

It is fair to say that Sinn Féin and the DUP have shown little appetite for reform to date. That resistance or disinterest is a key reason the Executive struggles to deliver even relatively modest change. And despite an enlarged Alliance Party presence, elected on a mandate for reform, we risk drifting into another election cycle marked by the same vulnerabilities, false promises and culture-war politics that suit some political agendas but do nothing to improve people’s daily lives.

Doing nothing is no longer an option because we don’t stand still; we go backwards.

We are not talking about institutional amputation, but keyhole surgery. We believe there is an opportunity for some common ground on three specific reforms that could materially improve how Stormont functions, without undermining the Good Friday Agreement or threatening any community’s core interests. And whilst it won’t solve all our problems, nor is it the height of our ambition on reform, it would start the process of much needed progress on reform.

1. Restore the principle of Joint First Ministers

It isn’t true to say there hasn’t been any reform since 1998. The St Andrews Agreement saw the transformation of the First and Deputy First Minister roles from a genuinely joint office into a hierarchised and politically weaponised arrangement has incentivised brinkmanship rather than cooperation.

In reality, the two ministers already operate as a single office. One cannot act without the other. Yet the current nomenclature and method of election obscure that reality and invite unnecessary political theatre.

The SDLP believes the joint nature of the office should be restored explicitly by renaming it as an office of Joint First Ministers. This would be more than symbolic. It would reaffirm the co-equal responsibility at the heart of power-sharing and realign the institutions with their original intent.

Notably, both Sinn Féin and the DUP have, at different points, used the language of “joint First Minister” themselves.

2. Elect the Speaker by a two-thirds majority

One of the most damaging features of recent stalemates has been the effective mothballing of the Assembly itself, even when MLAs have been elected and are willing to work.

The SDLP has long argued that the Assembly should be able to exist, legislate, scrutinise and represent, even if Executive formation is delayed. A key step towards that is reforming how the Speaker is elected, which we believe should be by a two-thirds majority of MLAs.

This threshold already exists elsewhere in the Agreement framework, including for triggering early elections. Indeed, it has worked in practice: during previous stalemates, Speakers from both the SDLP and the UUP achieved precisely this level of cross-community support.

Electing a Speaker by super-majority would prevent the Assembly from being held hostage to Executive negotiations and preserve at least one functioning democratic forum during periods of crisis.

3. Reverse the St Andrews Executive veto

Under current arrangements, a single party can prevent an item even appearing on the Executive agenda. This enables a “what we didn’t do” culture of political one-upmanship, rewards obstruction and makes joined-up government almost impossible.

The SDLP proposes reversing the St Andrews veto. The Executive should operate on the principle of collective responsibility, not individual gatekeeping.

Reform is not betrayal

The Good Friday Agreement was never meant to be an ornament on the mantelpiece. It is a toolkit, and one that explicitly allows for evolution as society changes.

Northern Ireland is more pluralist than it was in 1998. Identity still matters, but for many people it is no longer the primary political identifier. Reform can reflect that reality without pretending divisions do not exist.

If we simply limp on to the next election without addressing these flaws, we risk something worse than another suspension: a collapse in belief that politics can deliver at all.

There are other reforms that are often raised. Designation raises real issues, particularly for Alliance, whose votes can be discounted because of their “Other” status. But it has also created other anomalies, including the continued exclusion of nationalist parties from the Justice Ministry, with Alliance benefiting from that arrangement on two occasions between 2010 and 2016.

With just over 16 months to the next election, the SDLP is focusing on what it believes is possible, and are putting a clear challenge to the other parties: stop delaying, put party interests to the side and prioritise reform ahead of the next election to demonstrate that this place is capable of delivering for the people it serves.