Government pressed on Northern Ireland Assembly election delay
21 March 2019 (updated on 21 March 2019)
The Northern Ireland Secretary has delayed Assembly Elections, using powers set out in the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Exercise of Functions) Act of 2018.
Receiving Royal Assent on November 1 2018, the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Exercise of Functions) Act 2018 made various rulings to enable the continued function of Northern Ireland government agencies, in the absence of a functioning executive.
These included suspending the deadline for calling an Assembly election for a time-limited period, initially to the end of March 2019, but also included the powers for the Northern Irish Secretary to order a one-off extension.
Northern Ireland has been without an elected Assembly since January 2017, with a continued split between Sinn Fein and the DUP preventing the formation of an Executive branch.
Talking about the delay, the Northern Ireland Secretary told MPs:
"I am incredibly reluctant to extend that period. The people of Northern Ireland deserve strong political leadership from a locally elected, accountable devolved government and I am absolutely focused on achieving this outcome".
Her Labour counterpart responded by saying that Bradley has seen:
"a massive haemorrhaging of trust in her in her role in recent weeks and months because of the inadvertent remarks that she's made, but also because of the lack of energy in bringing the five parties together. The Secretary of State has to be a figure of both trust and authority. If she's not part of the solution, then quite frankly she becomes part of the problem".
- Watch Parliament TV: urgent question on delaying Northern Ireland Assembly elections
- Read Commons Hansard: urgent question on delaying Northern Ireland Assembly elections
- How did the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Exercise of Functions) Act 2018 pass through the House of Commons?
- Find out more about the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Exercise of Functions) Act 2018
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