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Mon 02 Feb 2010Ritchie: First woman elected to lead SDLP
MARGARET RITCHIE is only the fourth leader of the SDLP, which was founded 40 years ago this year. She is the first woman to lead it and the first to be elected directly by delegates to the party conference.
She was born in Downpatrick, Co Down in March 1958, but did not join the SDLP until 1980 when she was 22. A graduate of Queen’s University, Belfast, she worked for the Open University at its offices in the city. She was elected to the then SDLP-dominated Down District Council in 1985, became its vice-chair in 1992 and its chair in 1993.
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