The SDLP gathered last weekend to formally elect their new leader. Claire Hanna takes over the once-dominant party of Irish nationalism, which, over the past two decades, has become battered and bruised by poor election results and a struggle to define itself in a post-Good Friday Agreement age.

Can Hanna succeed where so many of her immediate predecessors have failed? The answer to this question comes from the misguided notion that the leader alone can solve the SDLP’s problem.

Hanna is a formidable force. Through the base she has built in south Belfast, she has demonstrated that she can see off some of the main rivals who have been successful in taking votes from the SDLP in the past.

The question that remains is whether she can translate this to other constituencies and other types of elections across Northern Ireland.

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David McCann: Hanna cannot solve the SDLP’s problems alone

Even if she can, it is important for the SDLP to ask itself some deep questions as it attempts to........

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