Alliance Party conference: ‘Hope not fear’

At the Alliance Party conference, party leader and Justice Minister Naomi Long MLA told delegates that Alliance is a party “forged from hope in the darkest days of our past”. agendaNi’s Harry McGoldrick was in attendance and reflects on where Alliance is in 2026.

With Assembly and local elections one year away, the Alliance Party theme for the conference, which took place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in south Belfast for the third year in a row on 14 March 2026, was ‘Hope. Not Fear’, with leader Naomi Long MLA saying that the conference meets at “a time of global uncertainty and turmoil”.

In her leader’s speech, Long said that the Assembly election in May 2027 will have people decide, “do we move forward? Or retreat into the politics of division”.

In this, her 10th year as party leader and 25th in politics, Long spoke of the divided land that politics in Northern Ireland finds itself in, and how it differs from the politics of the 1990s and early 2000s, which was “marked by an optimism and generosity which is now sadly in short supply”.

The Alliance leader, spoke of her frustration with the political situation Northern Ireland finds itself in, and said power sharing “must mean sharing responsibility”.

“Yes, like everyone we have to have compromise, but if we reach a point where our ability to deliver on key priorities is stymied by vetoes and frustrated by heel-dragging, then rest assured I would be advocating a change in direction,” Long said.

Within her speech, Long spoke about the issues that many voters want addressed including hospital waiting times, making communities safer, along with more opportunities for people to build their futures, to which Long said: “When institutions collapse, it is ordinary people who pay the price.”

Long was interrupted by applause on more than one occasion, including when talking about the decision to not join fellow members of the Executive, such as deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly MLA, in Washington DC for St Patrick’s Day stating: “I am under no illusion that our absence will matter to Trump, but it does to me.

“As someone who has championed human rights, equality, and inclusion, why would I want to be with someone who mocks the disabled and engages in race-baiting?”

Remembering Alliance past

This was the first Alliance conference since the death of two important figures in the party’s 55-year history. Paying tribute to former party leader Seán Neeson, known to many as ‘Mr Carrickfergus’, Long called him the “embodiment of selfless leadership, courage, and hope”.

Betty Campbell, the first female Mayor of Lisburn City Council, had also passed away. Long called Campbell “a true lady, who was gracious and kind and an exemplary elected representative”.

The king of the north

The Mayor of Manchester, Labour’s Andy Burnham, had the biggest turnout of the conference, with nearly every seat taken before his keynote speech. Burnham began his speech by seemingly subtly criticising Prime Minister Keir Starmer MP by saying “it is nice to feel wanted by a political party,” after being blocked by Labour’s ruling body to run in the parliamentary by-election in Gorton and Denton, held in February 2026.

Burnham’s keynote speech focused on the comparisons of Northern Ireland and the northwest of England, highlighting both regions’ shared influences along with the knowledge of the effects of industrialisation.

“Our broken political system has created a level of alienation which has given rise to the populist right, and, worse, could usher them into power on 30 per cent of the vote or even less.”
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Manchester

Burnham followed this by calling for reform of Westminster, with a cross-party campaign across the nations. “This is the truth as I see it, the UK’s political system has not worked for the northwest of England and it has not worked for Northern Ireland, indeed it has not truly worked anywhere outside London and the southeast,” Burnham said.

Burnham spoke to the sound of applause as he discussed forging relationships with Northern Ireland, “doing things for us, together, making our own decisions together, challenging the status quo”.

“Our broken political system has created a level of alienation which has given rise to the populist right, and worse could usher them into power on 30 per cent of the vote or even less.”

Burnham ended his keynote speech by calling on political parties across the UK to “wake up and work differently”.

Analysis

While the sense of hope and optimism was saturated at the Alliance conference, polls however, are more pessimistic. Polls from January 2026 show Alliance winning 11.6 per cent of first preference votes, down from 13.5 per cent in 2022 elections.

However, in her speech Long said: “To those who seek to talk down our achievements or suggest our progress is unstable, have failed to grasp is Alliance success is not merely a party-political phenomenon; it reflects the positive and progressive change happening in our society.”