In this review, we look at some of the departing MPs and some of the new members, as well as what a Conservative majority under Boris Johnson and commitments made by the party during the election might mean for the Irish community in Britain.
The Conservatives now have 365 seats and with it a considerable majority, while Labour have only 203 having lost 60 MPs. The SNP increased their MPs to 48 and the Lib Dems have 11. There were also some interesting changes in community representation in Northern Ireland, which you can read about below.
Departing MPs
It is not just the benches of the House of Commons that are green in the Palace of Westminster. Lots of MPs have Irish roots, family and ties. Moreover, many represent areas of Britain with large Irish populations, as we showcased in our successful Mapping the Irish series.
In the top 100 seats by Irish–born residents, there was little change in overall party loyalties. The few exceptions included the Conservative electoral gains in Birmingham Northfield, Bury South and Kensington, the Liberal Democrats taking St Albans and Richmond Park, and Labour winning Putney. This reflects how more than half of the top 100 constituencies are in London and the South East, where only a handful of seats changed party.
Chris Ruane, former chair of the All–Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Ireland and the Irish in Britain, lost his seat for the Vale of Clwyd last week. Born to an Irish labourer from County Galway, Ruane organised an evening in October called ‘Irish in the House’ to celebrate the Irish contribution to Westminster and has been a champion of the Irish community throughout his parliamentary career.
Two retiring MPs with strong Irish links were Labour’s Kate Hoey and Stephen Pound. Hoey is from County Antrim and was MP for Vauxhall since 1989. Pound’s mother was Irish and, alongside being MP for Ealing North from 1997, he was a shadow minister for Northern Ireland since 2010.
The Labour MP for Gedling Vernon Coaker lost his seat after holding it for 22 years. Coaker had two stints as Shadow Secretary for Northern Ireland (2011–13 and 2015–16) and has long campaigned on Irish issues.
Other departing MPs with Irish heritage and links include Mary Creagh, Sir Michael Fallon, Paul Farrelly, John Grogan, Seema Kennedy, Stephen Lloyd, Joan Ryan and Chuka Umunna.
New MPs
There are several new MPs of interest to the Irish community. The changes to Northern Ireland’s representatives signify evolving voting patterns. The SDLP’s leader Colum Eastwood took Foyle constituency from Sinn Féin, while his colleague Claire Hanna won Belfast South from the DUP. The independent Lady Sylvia Hermon, who stepped down, was replaced by the Alliance party’s Stephen Farry in North Down.
The DUP also lost North Belfast to Sinn Féin. Sinn Féin MPs do not sit in the House of Commons but use offices within the Westminster estate. This election marks the first time that Northern Ireland has returned more nationalist MPs (two SDLP and seven Sinn Féin) than unionist (eight DUP).
New MPs for Britain with Irish heritage include Mark Logan, originally from Ballymena and Conservative MP for Bolton North East, Mary Foy, born to Irish parents in Jarrow and now MP for the City of Durham, and both of the parents of Dave Doogan, the new MP for Angus, are from Donegal. Irish in Britain will continue to build effective networks with new representatives where we can.
It should also be noted that the long–time member of the APPG on Ireland and the Irish in Britain Sir Peter Bottomley, the MP for Worthing West, has become the longest–serving MP, also known as Father of the House. Sir Peter was a minister in the Northern Ireland Office from 1989 to 1990.
A Conservative majority
With the election marking the end of the hung parliament of recent years, the Withdrawal Bill will most likely finally be passed this week and the UK will be set to leave the EU at the end of January 2020. This will lead to stage two of negotiations as the UK and the EU look to agree a trade deal by the end of 2020.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated during the campaign that there would not be any customs checks between Northern Ireland and Britain after Brexit, however this was disputed by opposition figures and the Tánaiste Simon Coveney. In October, the Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay told the House of Commons that there would be “minimal targeted interventions”.
The new government has made no indication that it will change the rights enjoyed by Irish and British citizens in Ireland and Britain under the Common Travel Area – which was guaranteed to continue in all Brexit scenarios in a Memorandum of Understanding agreed under Theresa May’s premiership in May 2019. This agreement means that Irish citizens should be excluded from any upcoming changes to the UK’s immigration laws.
Political leaders across Northern Ireland have indicated that they want to revive the Stormont Assembly after last week’s election. Talks have begun this week with support coming from Julian Smith, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and Simon Coveney.
Health and social care
The Irish community in Britain had the highest median age (53) among different ethnic groups in the 2011 census, so issues such as health spending and social care reform are of acute importance. While the Conservatives have promised to invest billions of pounds more in the NHS, it is unclear at this stage what their spending plans are for areas. Some money has been pledged towards social care, but there are still unanswered questions about funding and caps on costs. The Conservative manifesto committed to working to find a cross–party consensus on the future of social care.
Other pledges include constitutional reform with a promise to repeal the Fixed Term Parliament Act, which currently restricts elections to very five years or with the approval of the–thirds of MPs.
The government is putting together a Queen’s speech to be read before parliament on Thursday 19 December that will set out its priorities for the year ahead.
Despite referencing an increase in funding to councils and local government in the latest budget, there is little indication of a significant spending increase in this area in the Conservative party’s election manifesto. The Conservatives have committed to producing a new budget in the first 100 days of the new government.
We will be meeting with our Parliamentary Liaison Officer in the coming days to plan our engagement strategy with this newly constituted parliament. Our parliamentary events for 2019 included a St Patrick’s Day drop in for MPs and peers and an update to the APPG on Ireland and the Irish in Britain in July on our work. We also co–hosted ‘Irish in the House’ in October to celebrate and recognise the Irish contribution to Westminster.
We will continue to work closely with the APPG and its chair Conor McGinn MP in the new year. Many of the issues in this article, such as the Northern Ireland border and Irish citizens’ rights were raised at our Brexit through the Green event in July, which featured campaigners, academics and input from the public. We will be hosting events in 2020 that will connect our members and friends with further policy discussion forums and look forward to consulting with you over the next year to help shape our work.