Alliance’s success is no fluke – we have changed Northern Irish politics for good

We now have our second elected MP and are the third largest party across Northern Ireland: proof, once again, that people are rejecting the politics of the past.

By Stephen Farry

BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JULY 31: Alliance Party leader Naomi Long speaks to the media following her meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson at Stormont on July 31, 2019 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Prime Minister is on his first official visit to Northern Ireland to discuss Brexit, and the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly, with the main political parties. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

The exit poll all but confirmed it. Brexit was going ahead as planned. With that kind of a majority, Parliament would surely pass Boris Johnson’s deal and that would be that.

In my role as deputy leader and Brexit spokesperson of the Alliance Party, I was right in the mix during the talks and negotiations in the months leading up to the deal in October. Alongside our leader and MEP Naomi Long, we helped lobby for a further extension and pressured MPs in Westminster to finally take Northern Irish concerns seriously. So it was certainly a blow to see the poll suggesting an outright majority for the Conservatives after all of our efforts.