Labour Party expels NI member for standing in election on different ticket By Jayne McCormack

BBC News NI Published duration 20 February 2017

image copyright Getty Images image caption Labour has said if a member is found to support or be a member of another political party, they face automatic exclusion

A member of the Labour Party in Northern Ireland (LPNI) has been expelled by the party's ruling executive for standing on a different ticket in the assembly election.

Donal O'Cofaigh is the Cross-Community Labour Alternative candidate for Fermanagh & South Tyrone.

He was expelled last week along with LPNI activist, Adam Gannon, who had been campaigning for him.

Labour said it is against the rules to be a member of another political party.

Consultation

Mr O'Cofaigh is a former Sinn Féin councillor who also stood as a candidate for the Socialist Party in 2011, before joining the Labour Party last year.

He told the BBC he had wanted to run on a Labour Party NI ticket this year, but due to party rules, he could not.

People in Northern Ireland have been allowed to join the Labour Party since 2003 - but it does not allow candidates to stand in Northern Ireland elections.

However, the party has begun a consultation process to consider whether they should contest Northern Ireland elections, according to BBC News NI political correspondent, Stephen Walker.

He reported that Labour is to discuss the issue with a series of groups over the coming weeks, including the Northern Ireland Constituency Labour Party, affiliated trade unions, the Irish Labour Party, the Co-operative Party and the SDLP.

Last year, eight candidates defied the party's hierarchy and ran under the banner 'Northern Ireland Labour Representation Committee' (NILRC).

Mr O'Cofaigh said he approached Cross-Community Labour Alternative, who then allowed him to run as a candidate under their party banner in March's election.

'Auto-excluded'

Under section 2 of the Labour Party membership rules , it states: "A member of the party who joins and/or supports a political organisation other than an official Labour group or other unit of the party... shall automatically be ineligible to be or remain a party member."

A Labour spokesperson said as the matter was internal it could not go into detail, adding: "It is against Labour Party rules to be a member of another political party.

"Where there is evidence of a member being a member of another political party, that member will be auto-excluded."