Northern party conference season

Three of the North’s five largest parties recently held their annual conferences, with the DUP and UUP making their cases for ‘making Northern Ireland work’ and ‘hope through prosperity’ respectively, and the SDLP becoming more hardened in its pro-unity stance. Joshua Murray was in attendance.

DUP: ‘Making NI work’

Nearly two years into its term jointly leading the Northern Ireland Executive, and more than three years since being defenestrated to second place in the North, the DUP gathered around 150 delegates at La Mon on 22 September 2025, where the theme of the day was ‘making NI work’.

There remains an awkward elephant in the room for the DUP, with the shadow of its former leader Jeffrey Donaldson looming large. The party, with Donaldson’s trial over historical sex offences (which he denies) having yet to commence after multiple delays, is unable to say much publicly on the matter. The reason this presents an awkwardness for the party is that Donaldson is arguably the single biggest reason that devolution ended up returning in the North in February 2024.

The good will towards Donaldson’s successor as DUP leader, Gavin Robinson MP, remains strong and sincere among the DUP faithful. Nicknamed by party chair and grandee Maurice Morrow as ‘our new big fella’ in October 2024, Robinson is an undoubtedly impressive speaker who has performed admirably in keeping his east Belfast seat in the House of Commons on three occasions since he unseated Alliance leader Naomi Long MLA in the 2015 UK election.

In leadership, Robinson is also clearly taking limited steps to reform the party’s image, with the influence of septuagenarians Sammy Wilson and Gregory Campbell greatly diminished, while speeches by socially conservative millennials Carla Lockhart and Jonathan Buckley received the most enthusiastic reception from DUP delegates.

In his leader’s speech, Robinson made an explicit case for devolution, arguing that it is the best means of keeping Northern Ireland within the UK. Robinson’s enthusiasm for devolution was not matched by his party members, with a muted reception for deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly MLA.

The DUP leader attempted to weave a web of being pro-devolution while being hardline on issues such as the Irish language, with a moderate culture war against nationalism clearly part of the DUP’s strategy to appeal to voters. However, having witnessed Robinson smile in a teddy-bear like manner before he took to the stage, what was clear is that this is not a man who is good at being a Paisley-like hardman.

Therefore, the main takeaways from this party conference is that the DUP is attempting to half-modernise, promoting new faces while continuing its social conservatism. Robinson faces no threat to his leadership, but it remains to be seen if this 39-year old, smiley-faced, east Belfast man can recover the DUP’s fortunes, whether through a move to the right or a move to the centre.

SDLP: ‘Build something new’

The party which effectively designed the Good Friday Agreement has a new task; presenting itself as the bridge to a united Ireland for swing voters who Sinn Féin cannot reach. This is a tall ask for the SDLP, but one which party leadership is clearly staking its electoral prospects on.

Gathering the party’s members at Belfast’s Crowne Plaza Hotel for the third year in a row on 4 October 2025, this was an unusually high-energy SDLP conference, with Claire Hanna MP’s leader’s speech and a panel discussion on Irish reunification featuring leading Irish politicians capturing the imagination of most in attendance.

In her leader’s speech Hanna notable shifted the SDLP’s gear on Irish unity, calling on the Irish Government to establish a unification department and accusing it of “denying responsibility for planning for constitutional change”.

“We are not just a peace project to be managed and soothed. Many across this island are looking to Dublin for leadership that they have yet to provide,” Hanna said.

In a lively discussion chaired by former SDLP special advisor Michael McKernan, Fianna Fáil TD Shane Moynihan, Fine Gael TD Emer Currie, Labour leader Ivana Bacik TD, and Social Democrats TD Sinéad Gibney, all offered their perspectives on Irish unity, with a general consensus that it should happen, but that now is not the right time.

Challenging the Fianna Fáil position that reconciliation in the North should be a precondition for a border poll, McKernan accused Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD of “want[ing] to give unionists a veto” while praising the Shared Island Initiative as “brilliant stuff”.

The panel discussion was a clear demonstration as to why the SDLP (if it can survive as an electoral force) has a key role to play in the unification debate, with the discussion showcasing a considerable knowledge gap among the Dáil’s parties on the North, which they were forced to confront.

UUP: ‘Hope through prosperity’

Once the dominant party of unionism, UUP conferences are noticeably quieter than those from years past of this island’s oldest party.

Returning to the Crowne Plaza in south Belfast on 11 October 2025, there was a distinct lack of energy amongst those gathered, almost as if the party faithful were simply going through the motions amid wider questions surrounding the party’s leadership and direction.

Lethargy appears to extend to party leader Mike Nesbitt MLA, who took the reins of the party for a second time in September 2024. He was the only declared candidate.

His leadership is an open question after he told the BBC he “had a decision to make” on whether to retire in 2026. On numerous occasions throughout the conference, he cut a lone figure at the back of room, occasionally peering at the stage or engaging in muted applause, as if impatient for the exit.

Reception to his speech was noticeably tepid, with applause largely reserved for annual attacks on republicanism and a lukewarm argument against Irish unity.

Describing the latter as “voting for relegation”, Nesbitt highlighted the potential ramifications of unity regarding Dáil representation: “Unionists could hold the balance of power. Why would a proud Irish person want me, Gavin Robinson, or Jim Allister picking their next Taoiseach?”

As unionism continues to fracture, the UUP finds itself squeezed between Alliance; with its liberalism attracting middle-class voters; and the DUP leader Gavin Robinson MP urging all shades of unionism to coalesce around his party.