Alliance voting analysis
Alliance rank as Moderately Left
Meaning that they are committed to a moderate left wing approach to voting on policy
Overview
The Alliance Party (Founded in 1970) are a non-sectarian party who are associated with different ideological positions depending on who you are asking. When looking at their manifesto, Alliance scored -55% on the left/right scale establishing themselves as a firmly moderate left wing ideology. However, when we analysed their voting record we found that they scored -44% on the left/right scale, meaning they are still committed to a moderate left wing ideology. This difference of 11% between their manifesto and voting scores could be explained by the diversity they have in their party’s members. All but two MLAs scored near a centre left score on the left/right scale, with the other two MLAs (Naomi Long and Kelly Armstrong) scoring as highly left wing. Naomi Long, the leader of the party, scored a -56% on the left/right scale. This could suggest that Alliance is a centre left party with leadership who push the party into a more left leaning position than is natural for most members.
It could also be possible that the manifesto is a more idealised version of the party’s vision which does not translate in to parliamentary policitics.