Election profile: Colum Eastwood, SDLP leader
- Published
Colum Eastwood became leader of the SDLP in November 2015
Colum Eastwood became leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) in November 2015,
He defeated incumbent Dr Alasdair McDonnell in a vote at the party's annual conference in Armagh by 172 votes to 133.
Mr Eastwood became the joint-youngest ever person to lead one of Stormont's five main parties.
The 32-year-old went from councillor in Derry to party leader in just 10 years.
However, he now faces an even bigger challenge - to unite and grow the party to challenge Sinn Féin.
Mr Eastwood joined the SDLP in 1998, citing the Good Friday Agreement and leadership of John Hume as the inspiration.
In 2005, he was elected to Derry City Council and five years later, aged 27, became Derry's youngest ever mayor.
It was not long before Mr Eastwood moved from the mayor's office to Stormont - he was elected as an MLA for Foyle in 2011.
Mr Eastwood became the joint-youngest ever person to lead one of Stormont's five main parties.
His rising reputation had not gone unnoticed and four months after the election he was nominated to stand as the SDLP's deputy party leader.
'Fed up losing'
However, citing a desire to focus on constituency issues, Mr Eastwood turned the nomination down.
Four years later, and with more experience as an MLA, he announced his intention to stand against Dr McDonnell.
He said that the challenge was "not personal" against the current leader, but that politics needed "a new generation".
"I'm fed up losing," he told supporters when he launched his bid for the leadership last September.
Despite his confident pitch for leadership, the past four years at Stormont have not been free of controversy.
He faced criticism in 2012 for his decision to carry the coffin of a friend, who was buried in a paramilitary-style funeral.
Mr Eastwood said he acted in a personal capacity in carrying the coffin of Seamus Coyle and again defended his position when questioned on the day before the leadership election.
Following the assembly elections in May 2016, Mr Eastwood led the SDLP into opposition at Stormont alongside the UUP.