Hume resigns as SDLP leader

The leader of the SDLP, John Hume, has announced that he is to resign from his post at the party’s conference in November.

Mr Hume, 64, has been the leader of the SDLP since 1979, made the announcement at Stormont on Monday 17 September.

He said that he has had serious health problems and feels that it is now necessary for him to cut down on his workload.

However, Mr Hume is to remain as an MP and an MEP.

Mr Hume said: “I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my party colleagues, and to our party members and our consistent supporters for the steady support and strength which they have provided during many difficult years.”

The news comes a year after Mr Hume stepped down from his seat in the Northern Ireland Assembly saying that it was also due to health problems.

For the past 30 years Mr Hume has played a huge role in politics in Northern Ireland. The IRA ceasefire in 1994 began after his talks with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams.

However, the massive workload took toll on his health and in August 1999 Mr Hume was rushed to hospital where he underwent emergency bowel surgery.

The SDLP leader has been Foyle’s MP since the constituency was erected in 1983, and he received 12,581 votes in the Foyle constituency in the 1998 assembly elections.

Mr Hume has also been a member of the European Parliament since 1979. (CD)