Northern Ireland Assembly Opposition

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The role of official opposition in the Northern Ireland Assembly can be taken by larger political parties who do not participate in Northern Ireland's consociational power-sharing Executive. Forming an Assembly Opposition empowers opposition parties to scrutinise the work of government,^[1] giving them financial assistance, enhanced speaking rights in the chamber and the right to chair certain committees.^[2]

While the Assembly and Executive had been in operation since 1998 and 1999, respectively (following the Good Friday Agreement), the Assembly Opposition was only established in 2016, as part of the Fresh Start Agreement.^[1] The opportunity was first taken by the Ulster Unionist Party and Social Democratic and Labour Party for the Assembly's fifth term, following the May 2016 assembly election,^[3] and has once again been taken by the SDLP since the May 2022 assembly election.^[4]