Stormont 'not as good as it gets', says Hanna

The new leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) has said she refuses to believe Stormont is “as good as it gets”.

Claire Hanna spoke as she was formally ratified at the party’s annual conference to succeed Colum Eastwood.

The MP for Belfast South and Mid Down was the only candidate when nominations closed last month to succeed Eastwood.

He announced in August he was stepping down after more than eight years in the role, but he will continue as Foyle MP.

In her speech on Saturday, Hanna said Irish unity “isn’t a magic wand” but it “takes us closer to a connected, dynamic economy”.

Claire Hanna has been the MP for South Belfast since December 2019

Holding Executive to account

Hanna also reiterated calls for reform of Stormont’s power-sharing structures, and said “we won’t let this drop”.

“We’ll do everything we can to make Stormont work, but we refuse to believe that that’s as good as it gets," she continued.

Hanna said it "isn’t negative or destructive to hold the Executive to account for what they do with the power they sought and won at the ballot box”.

She said that some Stormont challenges are due to a "failure of imagination and leadership" rather than a lack of funding from the UK government.

As it happened: Hanna makes first SDLP leader speech

The SDLP is the official opposition in the Northern Ireland Assembly, which was restored in February after a two-year hiatus.

The party retained its two Westminster seats in July's general election.

But its vote share has been squeezed over the years, falling from Stormont's third-largest party in 2017 to its fifth largest in the 2022 assembly poll.

Claire Hanna is taking over as leader of the SDLP from Colum Eastwood

A new Ireland

Hanna said a “new Ireland means a new Northern Ireland along the way”.

“It means not waiting for a border poll to start changing people’s lives,” she told party members at the conference in south Belfast.

“It means that being ‘two communities’ is the distant past. It means, reconciliation not as a buzzword, but a way of living," Hanna said.

She also encouraged the party to look towards the future.

“From today on, we talk about the future. We focus on the things we can control, the things we need to change," she said.

“I want people to feel represented when they vote for us, empowered. To feel ambitious for their community, hopeful for the future," Hanna said.

Hanna was re-elected to Westminster in July

Hanna was re-elected in July as MP for Belfast South and Mid Down with a majority of more than 12,000 votes.

Her family is steeped in SDLP history.

• Red Lines: The Claire Hanna interview

Her father is a former SDLP general secretary and her mother served in the Stormont executive. Hanna spoke about her parents, her husband and her children during her speech.

'Extremely proud'

Colum Eastwood made his final speech as party leader at the conference

During the SDLP conference, Colum Eastwood made his final speech as party leader.

Introducing Hanna to the stage, Eastwood said he is "genuinely delighted and extremely proud" that she is taking on leadership of the party.

When he announced his decision in August, the Foyle MP said stepping down as SDLP leader would "give someone else a chance" and re-energise the party.

Hanna thanked Eastwood for his leadership "through nine turbulent years".

"We know you may be stepping down as leader but you're going to be a huge party of our story and our future," he said.