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Social Democratic and Labour Party

The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP; Páirtí Sóisialta agus Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist  political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has seven members in the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLAs) and two members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.

The SDLP party platform advocates Irish reunification and further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom. During the Troubles, the SDLP was the most popular Irish nationalist party in Northern Ireland, but since the Provisional IRA ceasefire in 1994, it has lost ground to the republican party Sinn Féin, which in 2001 became the more popular of the two parties for the first time. Established during the Troubles, a significant difference between the two parties was the SDLP's rejection of violence, in contrast to Sinn Féin's then-support for (and organisational ties to) the Provisional IRA and physical force republicanism.

Foundation and early history (1970–1972)
The party was founded on 21 August 1970, when six Stormont MPs (Gerry Fitt, Republican Labour Party; Austin Currie, Nationalist Party; Paddy Devlin, Northern Ireland Labour Party; John Hume, Ivan Cooper and Paddy O’Hanlon, Independent) and one Senator (Paddy Wilson, Republican Labour), joined to form a new party. They were joined on 10 November by a second Senator (Claude Wilton, Ulster Liberal Party), bringing the total parliamentary party to eight members. Gerry Fitt was chosen to lead the new party while John Hume was appointed its deputy. Paddy Wilson also became the party’s first General Secretary.

The smaller National Democratic Party dissolved itself in October of that year and encouraged all its members to join the new party. Additionally, individual members and branches from other parties joined including from the Irish Labour Party, Nationalist Party, Northern Ireland Labour Party, Republican Labour Party and Ulster Liberal Party.

The SDLP contested its first election in a by-election for the Belfast St. Anne’s seat on 12 November. Their candidate Gerry Laverty won 24.2% of the vote in the traditionally Unionist seat.

The SDLP initially rejected the Nationalist Party's policy of abstentionism and sought to fight for civil rights within the Stormont system. However, the SDLP quickly came to the view that Stormont was unreformable, refusing to attend the state opening on 18 June 1971, and withdrawing altogether in response the shooting dead of Seamus Cusack and Desmond Beattie in Derry on 8 July.

On 15 August the SDLP announced they would lead a Campaign of Civil Disobedience in response to the introduction of internment the previous week. This involved the withdrawal of SDLP representatives from public bodies, the organisation of a rent and rates strike and SDLP MPs participating in a 48 hour hunger strike outside 10 Downing Street.

The SDLP held its first annual conference in Dungiven on 23 October that year. The party adopted its draft constitution, Eddie McGrady was elected the party’s first chairman while Sheila Carson becomes its first secretary. Several motions were passed including committing the party firmly to socialism, supporting the parliamentary party’s decision to withdraw from Stormont and condemning the 11-plus.

After the abolition of the Parliament of Northern Ireland in 1972, the SDLP emerged as the largest party representing the nationalist community. On 20 September the party issued its first major policy document, entitled "Towards a New Ireland". It recommended that the British Government issue a declaration that it would recognise that Ireland is better off united, and that as an interim proposal Northern Ireland should be administered jointly by the British and Irish Governments. It also proposed the establishment of a National Senate drawn equally from a devolved Assembly in Belfast and the Oireachtas in Dublin to plan for the integration of the island.

Sunningdale Agreement (1973–1974)
The first major electoral contest for the SDLP were elections to Northern Ireland’s 26 new district councils, held on 30 May 1973. The SDLP won 13.4% of the vote and 82 seats, becoming the second largest party in Northern Ireland and the largest party in the districts of Derry, Magherafelt and Newry and Mourne. Other nationalist parties failed to achieve much success, leaving the SDLP as the largest party representing the nationalist community.

Paddy Wilson, the SDLP’s General Secretary and councillor in the new Belfast City Council was murdered on the 26 June, two days before the election to the new Northern Ireland Assembly. Wilson and another woman, Irene Andrews, were killed by the UFF, a codename for the UDA. John White was later convicted for his part in the killings.

Following publication of the British Government’s White Paper, elections were held to the new Northern Ireland Assembly on 28 June, where the party won 19 out of 75 seats and once again emerged as the voice of the nationalist community, increasing its vote share to 22% of the vote. Negotiations occurred throughout October and November on the formation of a new power-sharing Executive to govern Northern Ireland with the SDLP, UUP and Alliance taking part. On 21 November Northern Ireland Secretary of State, William Whitelaw, announced that agreement had been reached on the composition and functions of the new Executive, with the SDLP entitled to four of the eleven members and a further two non-Executive office holders. Agreement was still to be reached on many other aspects of the White Paper, particularly regarding the Council of Ireland.

Following discussions between the British Prime Minister and Irish Taoiseach, as well as the political parties, it was announced on 9 December at Sunningdale that an agreement had been reached on the remaining elements of the White Paper, including the implementation of a Council of Ireland.

On 1 January 1974 the Northern Ireland Executive took office, with Gerry Fitt as Deputy Chief Executive, John Hume as Minister of Commerce, Paddy Devlin as Minister of Health and Social Services and Austin Currie as Minister of Housing, Local Government and Planning.

The SDLP faced its first Westminster election shortly afterwards in February in what became a referendum on power-sharing. The anti-power-sharing Unionists united under the UUUC banner and won 11 seats, with Gerry Fitt being the only pro-power-sharing MP returned, dealing a critical blow to the fledgling Executive. The Executive eventually collapsed after 5 months following several weeks of the Ulster Workers’ Council strike.

Searching for agreement (1975–1980)
Attempting to find agreement, the Secretary of State called elections for a Constitutional Convention on 1 May 1975, for which the SDLP won 17 seats and 24% of the vote. The UUUC however won a majority of seats and votes, the Constitutional Convention made no progress and the British Government brought it to an end in early 1976. Later that year on 1 September SDLP member Denis Mullen was shot dead at his home.

Following the failure of the Constitutional Convention the SDLP continued searching for a long term solution, at times engaging in talks with the UUP. In 1977 the party issued a policy document titled "Facing Reality". This called for the party to put a stronger emphasis on the "Irish dimension". In response to this perceived move away from the party’s Labour values Paddy Devlin, then party chairperson, resigned from the party.

In 1978 SDLP deputy leader John Hume presented his proposal for an "agreed Ireland". In contrast to the two main options at the time of full integration into Britain or full withdrawal, Hume’s solution proposed the British government declaring that its aim was to bring the main traditions in Ireland together in reconciliation.

After years of little progress 1979 brought considerably more action for the SDLP. A vote of confidence in the Labour Government failed in March that year. Gerry Fitt abstained on the vote as the Government had failed to act on the Bennett Report into RUC interrogation techniques. In the following general election, the Conservatives came to power in Westminster and Fitt held his seat in Belfast West.

In June that year the first direct election to the European Parliament were held. The SDLP candidate was John Hume who won a seat with 25% of the first preference vote. He went on to sit in the Socialist Group in the European Parliament.

The new Conservative Secretary of State, Humphrey Atkins, invited Northern Ireland parties including the SDLP to a conference on the future of Northern Ireland. There was intense debate in the SDLP whether or not to attend a conference which would not discuss any all-island dimension, with Gerry Fitt wanting to attend regardless of any discussion on an "Irish dimension" while many others, including John Hume, refusing to attend. As a result of this dispute Fitt resigned as SDLP leader. On 28 November John Hume was elected as his replacement, and Seamus Mallon became his deputy.

The SDLP eventually made the decision to attend the Atkins conference, on the condition that there would be parallel discussions involving the "Irish dimension". These talks, like others, failed to reach agreement.

Entry of Sinn Féin (1981–1982)
Following the death of Fermanagh and South Tyrone MP Frank Maguire and the selection of hunger striker Bobby Sands as a candidate in the following by-election the SDLP decided to withdraw Austin Currie as their candidate. The election was held on 9 April and Bobby Sands won the seat by a slim margin. As the strikes went on, SDLP leader John Hume met Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to ask that she concede some of the demands of the hunger strikers. No agreement was forthcoming. When Sands died, the SDLP also stood aside for Owen Carron, who also won the seat by a narrow margin.

The hunger strikes also had an impact on the electoral fortunes of the SDLP. In local government elections in 1981 the SDLP vote share fell to 17.5% as nationalist voters began to support more candidates from parties like the Irish Independence Party and Irish Republican Socialist Party.

In Spring 1982 Northern Ireland Secretary of State Jim Prior proposed “rolling devolution” by which a consultative Assembly be established. John Hume labelled the proposals as unworkable as they offered no realistic prospect of power-sharing or offered any role for the Irish Government.

In May of that year the SDLP secured a seat in Seanad Éireann as new Taoiseach Charles Haughey appointed SDLP Deputy Leader Seamus Mallon to serve as a voice for Northern nationalists.

As the elections to the Assembly approached the party announced that although it would contest the election, none of its representatives would take their seats. The election, held on 20 October, mirrored the SDLP’s performance in the local elections the previous year as the party won 18.8% of the vote and took 14 seats. The decision by Sinn Féin to stand also had an impact on the SDLP vote as the party, considered to be the political wing of the Provisional IRA, took 10.1% of the vote and 5 seats.

As a result of Seamus Mallon’s membership of Seanad Éireann he was removed as a member of the Assembly and a by-election was held in Armagh the following spring. The SDLP called for a boycott and amidst low turnout the UUP won the election.

New Ireland Forum (1983–1984)
In the lead up to the 1982 Assembly election the SDLP proposed a “Council for a New Ireland” in its manifesto. This, with the assistance of the Irish Government, was realised in the creation of the New Ireland Forum in March 1983. It was a forum “all democratic parties which reject violence and which have members elected or appointed to either House of the Oireachtas or the Northern Ireland Assembly”. The SDLP, along with Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour all joined. The Forum met for the first time on 30 May with five SDLP members: John Hume, Austin Currie, Joe Hendron, Eddie McGrady and Seamus Mallon.

Submissions were taken from sectors, individuals and organisations across the island of Ireland, examining the long-term future of the island. After a year of work the Forum published its report in May 1984, detailing three possible structures for a new Ireland. The three options of a unitary state, federal/confederal state and joint authority were rooted in previous SDLP policy and went on to influence the policies of the Irish Government and the major political parties in the Republic in relation to Northern Ireland in the following decade.

In the general election in June 1983 the SDLP failed to regain the seat in Belfast West it had lost when Gerry Fitt resigned from the party. However, John Hume was elected to the House of Commons for the new constituency of Foyle. The following year Hume also retained his seat in the European Parliament.

Anglo-Irish Agreement (1985–1987)
Throughout the 1970s and 80s SDLP leader John Hume used his connections with influential Irish-American politicians Tip O'Neill, Ted Kennedy, Daniel Moynihan and Hugh Carey to push the SDLP’s analysis of the division and conflict on the island of Ireland. The “Four Horsemen” and other senior politicians persuaded President Ronald Reagan to encourage British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to work with the Irish Government to agree a collective way forward. Negotiations began in early 1985 and concluded on 15 November with the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement.

Although the agreement was supported by the SDLP, it faced considerable opposition from Unionist parties. Fifteen Unionist MPs resigned their Westminster seats forcing by-elections in January 1986. The SDLP targeted constituencies where support for the Anglo-Irish Agreement was strongest and subsequently managed to win Newry and Armagh, where deputy leader Seamus Mallon won the seat from the Ulster Unionists.

This success continued into the 1987 general election where the SDLP’s support for the agreement saw its vote rise to levels last seen when the party was first founded in the early 70s, mostly at the expense of Sinn Féin. In addition to holding both their current seats, Eddie McGrady won the seat of South Down from Enoch Powell, finally ending his political career.

Hume-Adams Talks (1988-1994)
In January 1988 SDLP Leader John Hume began a series of secret talks with Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams which lasted until August of that year.

The following year local government elections were held. These elections saw the Party’s best result at a local election since its foundation, winning 21% of the vote and 121 seats. These came mostly at the expense of Sinn Féin, who voters began to turn away from following a number of IRA atrocities. In the European Election that June, John Hume increased the SDLP vote to 25%. In April 1992 the SDLP reached their electoral high point, as Joe Hendron won the Belfast West seat at the expense of Gerry Adams. The SDLP now had four MPs.

In late 1992, knowledge of talks between John Hume and Gerry Adams became public. The talks were criticised by many, both within the SDLP and outside. The talks would eventually lead to the Downing Street Declaration by British Prime Minister John Major and Taoiseach Albert Reynolds, which laid the ground for a ceasefire and negotiations.

Throughout 1994, SDLP representatives continued to face attacks from paramilitaries, as loyalists burnt out Joe Hendron’s car while Councillor John Fee was beaten by Republicans outside his home. On 31 August the IRA announced a ceasefire, followed shortly afterwards by the loyalist paramilitaries. Hume, Adams and Reynolds met in Dublin and publicly shook hands. The SDLP Leader called for peace negotiations to begin without delay.

Good Friday Agreement (1995-1998)
Throughout 1995 the SDLP continued to engage in talks with the Irish and British Governments, and with other political parties to establish formal all-party talks. They suggested appointing former US Senator George Mitchell to oversee an international body on arms decommissioning. The Government then established this body which produced the “Mitchell Principles” which parties will be required to meet if they were to enter talks. Following this, the Prime Minister John Major announced details of an election to a Forum which will comprise the parties involved in talks. The election took place in May 1996 where the SDLP took 24% of the vote and 21 seats.

Leading up to the next general election there was some speculation on the SDLP forming an electoral pact with Sinn Féin. SDLP Leader John Hume stated that this would only be considered in the event of an IRA ceasefire and Sinn Féin agreeing to end their policy of abstentionism. The May 1997 election yielded mixed results for the SDLP. The party increased its vote share to its highest ever level, however lost their seat in Belfast West to Sinn Féin. In the local elections held a few weeks later the SDLP also increased its vote share but lost seven seats. After the election Alban Maginness was appointed Lord Mayor of Belfast, becoming the first nationalist to hold this position.

Following changes of government in Ireland and the UK talks reconvened in autumn of 1997. The SDLP participated in these talks alongside other parties. Agreement was finally reached on 10 April 1998 when the SDLP, seven other parties, the British and Irish Governments signed the Good Friday Agreement. In the subsequent referendum the SDLP campaigned for a “Yes” vote, with SDLP leader John Hume appearing onstage with U2 frontman Bono and UUP leader David Trimble. The result was a resounding victory for the “Yes” campaign, who secured 71.12% in Northern Ireland. Both Hume and Trimble won the Nobel Peace Prize later that year for their efforts in securing the Agreement.

As a result of the Agreement, elections to a new Northern Ireland Assembly were held in June 1998; the SDLP emerged as the second-largest party overall, and the largest nationalist party, with 24 out of 108 seats. The party was then returned to government later in the year when a power-sharing Executive was established for Northern Ireland. The SDLP took office alongside the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), and Sinn Féin, and the SDLP's Seamus Mallon became Deputy First Minister alongside the UUP's First Minister, David Trimble.

Upon Mallon's retirement in 2001, Mark Durkan succeeded him as Deputy First Minister.

All-island Merger
There had been a debate in the party on the prospects of amalgamation with Fianna Fáil. Little came of this speculation and former party leader Margaret Ritchie, Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick rejected the idea. Speaking at the 2010 Irish Labour Party national conference in Galway she said that a merger would not happen while she was leader – "Merger with Fianna Fáil? Not on my watch." After his election as Fianna Fáil Leader in January 2011, Micheál Martin repeatedly dismissed the possibility of a merger or electoral alliance with the SDLP. In January 2019, the SDLP membership were e-mailed on the issue with the text "continuing on as normal is not an option", a reference to the party's declining fortunes.

In February 2019, at a special party conference, the members approved a partnership with Fianna Fáil, the main opposition party in the Republic of Ireland. Both parties shared policies on key areas, including addressing the current political situation in Northern Ireland, improving public services in both jurisdictions of Ireland, such as healthcare and education, and bringing about further unity and co-operation of the people on the island and arrangements for a future poll on Irish reunification.

Claire Hanna, MLA for Belfast South and party spokesperson on Brexit, quit the assembly group as a result.

In the lead up to the 2022 Assembly election, party leader Colum Eastwood played down the partnership stating, "The SDLP stands on its own two feet." This led people to commentate that the partnership is no longer active, with comments from as early as 2020 determining that it had been "quietly forgotten". The partnership officially ended on 28 September 2022.

Westminster Parliament
In contrast to Sinn Féin, which follows a policy of abstentionism, the SDLP MPs have always taken their seat in the Westminster parliament. The party's first MP was leader Gerry Fitt who was already a sitting MP when the SDLP was founded. The SDLP's best result was in 1992 general election when they won four out of 17 seats. Its worst result was in 2017 when they lost all their seats. In 2019 they won two seats.

Although not abstentionist, SDLP MPs have protested the parliamentary oath required of every member of parliament. At the swearing in ceremony after the 2019 general election, the party leader Colum Eastwood said:

 * "Under protest and in order to represent my constituency, I do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, according to law. My true allegiance is to the people of Derry and the people of Ireland."

Proposed Dáil participation
The SDLP, along with Sinn Féin, have long sought speaking rights in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Republic's parliament. In 2005, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, leader of Fianna Fáil, put forward a proposal to allow MPs and MEPs from Northern Ireland to participate in debates on the region. However, the plan was met with vociferous opposition from the Republic's main opposition parties, Fine Gael and the Labour Party, and was subsequently shelved. Unionists had also strongly opposed the proposal.

Remembrance Day 2010
On Remembrance Day in 2010, party leader Margaret Ritchie became the first leader of a nationalist party to wear a poppy while attending a wreath-laying ceremony in Downpatrick, County Down. The poppy is worn on the lapel in the United Kingdom as a mark of respect and remembrance for fallen British soldiers in the period around Remembrance Day and is controversial in Northern Ireland, as it is viewed by many as a political symbol representing support for the British Army. Because of this, it has long been the preserve of the unionist/loyalist community. Her actions drew praise from unionists.

Leadership challenges and elections, 2011–2015
On 27 July 2011, it was reported that Margaret Ritchie faced a leadership challenge from deputy leader Patsy McGlone. The Phoenix reported that only one MLA, Alex Attwood was prepared to back her and that "she will be humiliated if she puts her leadership to a vote".

Alasdair McDonnell was confirmed as Ritchie's successor after the subsequent leadership election on 5 November 2011.

Colum Eastwood challenged McDonnell and replaced him as leader after the party's 2015 leadership election.

Ideology and policies
The SDLP is a social democratic party that opposes austerity and Brexit. It is also an Irish nationalist party advocating for a shared home place for all the people on the island of Ireland.

While the party is officially anti-abortion, it does not apply a party whip on the issue. The party supports LGBT rights including marriage equality, the roll out of PrEP across Northern Ireland and LGBT education in schools. The SDLP is anti-xenophobic and opposes plans to create what it deems a hostile environment for immigrants. The party also supports an Irish language act.

The SDLP believes that 3,000 social and affordable houses should be built every year. They oppose the gig economy and zero-hour contracts. The party opposes welfare reform and the cut to universal credit.

Despite opposing academic selection, the party does not advocate the abolition of grammar schools. The party supports the abolition of tuition fees. It wants to make a modern language up to GCSE and the teaching of maths up to the age of 18 compulsory.

The party believes that the Magee campus in Derry should be expanded to 10,000 student places.

The party supports a green corporate levy on businesses who contribute large amounts of greenhouse gases and a green jobs strategy. They also believe that a climate emergency should be declared and the government should be required to reach net zero emissions.

Leadership
Colum Eastwood is the sixth leader of the SDLP, taking over from Alasdair McDonnell in 2015.

Elected representatives
The SDLP currently have two MPs in the UK Parliament, seven MLAs in the Northern Ireland Assembly and 39 councillors across Northern Ireland's 11 councils.

Electoral performance
Upon its formation, the SDLP quickly established itself as the second largest party and the largest nationalist party in Northern Ireland. It largely held this position until the beginning of the 21st century. In the 1998 Assembly election, it became the biggest party overall in terms of votes received and the first nationalist party to do so. This would be the largest seat share it would ever hold as it slowly saw declining support following the retirement of John Hume in 2001.

Under leader Mark Durkan, the 2001 general election and the 2003 Assembly election saw fellow Irish nationalist party Sinn Féin win more seats and votes than the SDLP for the first time, a position they would continue to hold. In the 2004 European elections, Hume stood down and the SDLP failed to retain the seat he had held since 1979, losing it to Sinn Féin. Alban Maginness attempted to take the seat again in the 2009 European elections the party fielded as their candidate and failed to gain a seat with 78,489 first preference votes. The party further declined in the 2011 Assembly elections and the 2016 Assembly election, as the total number of votes received continued to drop.

The 2017 Assembly election saw the party retain its 12-seat count from the prior election, increasing its seat share due to a drop in the size of the assembly for the first time since 1998. This was followed by the 2017 general election where the SDLP lost all three seats and returned its worst ever vote share. In the 2019 European election, the final in the United Kingdom's history, party leader Colum Eastwood ran, increasing his party's vote but failing to take a seat. In the general election later that year the party recaptured Belfast South and Foyle with the highest ever vote recorded for the party in both constituencies and managed to increase its vote across Northern Ireland to its highest in almost fifteen years for a general election. The two seats held by the party currently have the largest majorities of any constituencies in Northern Ireland.

In the 2022 Assembly election, the SDLP slipped to the 5th largest party with only eight seats in the Assembly.

Some see the SDLP as first and foremost a party now representing Catholic middle-class interests, with voters concentrated in rural areas and the professional classes, rather than a vehicle for Irish nationalism. The SDLP reject this argument, pointing to their strong support in Derry and their victory in South Belfast in the 2005 Westminster election. Furthermore, in the lead up to that election, they published a document outlining their plans for a politically united Ireland. Their decline in Northern Ireland outside of two particular strongholds had led some to dub the party, the "South Down and Londonderry Party".

title: Social Democratic and Labour Party


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Gordon Campbell

Gordon Muir Campbell, (born January 12, 1948) is a retired Canadian diplomat and politician who was the 35th mayor of Vancouver from 1986 to 1993 and the 34th premier of British Columbia from 2001 to 2011.

He was the leader of the British Columbia Liberal Party from 1993 to 2011. From 2011 to 2016, he served as Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Canada's representative to the Ismaili Imamat from 2014 to 2016.

Early life
Campbell was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. His father, Charles Gordon (Chargo) Campbell, was a physician and an assistant dean of medicine at the University of British Columbia, until his suicide in 1961, when Gordon was 13. His mother Peg was a kindergarten assistant at University Hill Elementary School. The couple had four children. Gordon grew up in the West Point Grey neighbourhood of Vancouver and went to Stride Elementary, and University Hill Secondary School where he was student council president. Upon graduation from high school, Campbell was accepted by Dartmouth College, a well-known Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire; he had received a scholarship and a job offer so he could afford the tuition fees and defray educational expenses.

Campbell intended to study medicine but was persuaded by three English professors to shift his focus to English and urban management. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in English. At Dartmouth, in 1969, Campbell received a $1,500 Urban Studies Fellowship that made it possible for him to work in Vancouver's city government where he met Art Phillips, a TEAM city councilor who later became the 32nd mayor of Vancouver.

Early career
After graduating from university that year, Campbell and Nancy Chipperfield were married in New Westminster on July 4, 1970. Under the Canadian University Service Overseas (CUSO) program, they went to Nigeria to teach. There he coached basketball and track and field and launched literacy initiatives. Stanford accepted Campbell to pursue a master's degree in education, but the couple returned to Vancouver instead where Campbell entered law school at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Nancy earned her education degree. Campbell's law school education was short-lived; as he soon returned to the City of Vancouver to work for Art Phillips on his mayoral campaign. When Phillips was elected in 1972, Campbell became his executive assistant, a job he held until 1976.

At 28 years old, he left Mayor Phillips's office and went to work for Marathon Realty as a project manager. In 1976, Geoffrey, the Campbells' first child, was born. In 1978, the Campbells bought a house in Point Grey, which remained their home for the next 26 years. From 1975 to 1978, Campbell pursued a Master of Business Administration degree at Simon Fraser University's Beedie School of Business. In 1979, Nancy Campbell gave birth to their second child, Nicholas.

In 1981, Campbell left Marathon Realty and started his own business, Citycore Development Corporation. Despite the economic slowdown that affected Canada that year, his company was successful and constructed several buildings in Vancouver.

After a two-year absence from civic political activities, Campbell became involved in the mayoral campaign of May Brown and was an active supporter of the Downtown Stadium for Vancouver Committee. Although Brown was unsuccessful, Campbell and the committee continued promoting the stadium to revitalize False Creek, which at the time was polluted industrial land. The committee was eventually successful, as Premier Bill Bennett announced the Downtown Stadium project in 1980.

Vancouver Councillor and Mayor
Campbell was elected to Vancouver City Council in 1984 as a member of the Non-Partisan Association. He was then elected as mayor of Vancouver for three successive terms from 1986 to 1993. Notable events in civic politics during that period included the development of the Expo Lands, the re-development of Yaletown, and the foundation of the Coal Harbour residential area. One of the most significant projects of his term was the construction of the new Vancouver Public Library. He also served as chair of the Greater Vancouver Regional District and president of the Union of British Columbia Municipalities.

Liberal leader
Campbell became leader of the British Columbia Liberal Party in 1993 in a three-way race with Gordon Gibson, Jr. and Gordon Wilson, the incumbent party leader, who had lost the confidence of his party. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly the next year in a by-election in Vancouver-Quilchena.

In the 1996 campaign, Campbell was elected to the Vancouver-Point Grey riding, which he held until 2010. The Liberals entered the election leading in the polls because of a fundraising scandal in the New Democratic Party (NDP). His party gained 16 seats and won a slight plurality of the popular vote, but the NDP retained enough seats to continue as the majority government. He stayed on as leader of the Opposition, opposing NDP premiers Glen Clark, Dan Miller and Ujjal Dosanjh.

In May 2000, Campbell, along with Michael de Jong and Geoffrey Plant, brought a court case against the Nisga'a Nation, the Attorney General of Canada and the Attorney General of British Columbia, parties to the first modern day Aboriginal Treaty in British Columbia, known as the Nisga'a Final Agreement. He and the other plaintiffs claimed the treaty signed with the Nisga'a Nation was "in part inconsistent with the Constitution of Canada and therefore in part of no force and effect". However, Justice Williamson dismissed the application, judging that the enacting legislation did "establish a treaty as contemplated by Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. The legislation and the Treaty are constitutionally valid."

Premier Glen Clark's government was beset by controversy, difficult economic and fiscal conditions, attacks on the NDP's building of the Fast Ferries and charges against Clark in relation to casino licensing, known as Casinogate. (Clark was eventually vindicated, though resigned his post because of the investigation.) In the BC election of 2001, Campbell's Liberals defeated the two-term NDP incumbents, taking 77 of 79 seats in the legislature. This was the largest majority of seats and the second-largest majority of the popular vote in BC history.

Tax
In 2001, Campbell campaigned on a promise to reduce income taxes significantly to stimulate the economy. A day after taking office, he reduced personal income tax for all taxpayers by 25 per cent across every tax bracket. The government also introduced reductions in the corporate income tax, and eliminated the Corporation Capital Tax.

Spending
To finance the tax cuts and to balance the provincial budget, Campbell's first term was also noted for several measures of fiscal austerity such as reductions in welfare rolls and some social services, deregulation, sale of government assets (in particular the ferries built by the previous government during the Fast Ferry Scandal), reducing the size of the civil service, and closing government offices in certain areas.

BC Rail
In 2003, Campbell announced the sale of BC Rail, a publicly owned rail corporation, to the Canadian National Railway. This occurred even though he had made a campaign promise not to sell the company during the 2001 British Columbia election. In 1996, he had lost an election after promising to sell BC Rail, leading some to allege that he had hidden his true plans to get elected in 2001, and "went back to his original plan" after winning the election in 2001. This sale was condemned as unfair by the losing bidders, and triggered charges based in information found during police raids on cabinet offices in a drug-related investigation in what is known as the BC Legislature Raids.

Education
The Campbell government passed legislation in August 2001 declaring education as an essential service, therefore making it illegal for educators to go on strike. This fulfilled a platform promise made in the election campaign.

The government embarked upon the largest expansion of BC's post-secondary education system since the foundation of Simon Fraser University in 1965. In 2004, the government announced that 25,000 new post-secondary places would be established between 2004 and 2010.

The Campbell government also lifted the six-year-long tuition fee freeze that was placed on BC universities and colleges by the previous NDP government. In 2005 a tuition limit policy was put in place, capping increases at the rate of inflation.

Environmental
Campbell made significant changes, including new Environmental Assessment Legislation, as well as controversial new aquaculture policies on salmon farming. In November 2002, His government passed the Forest and Range Practices Act which reversed many of the regulations previously introduced by the former New Democrat government.

First Nations
During the 2001 election, the BC Liberals also campaigned on a promise to hold a consultative referendum seeking a mandate from the general public to negotiate treaties with First Nations. In the spring of 2002, the government held the referendum.

The referendum, led by attorney general Geoff Plant, proposed eight questions that voters were asked to either support or oppose. Critics claimed the phrasing was flawed or biased toward a predetermined response. While some critics, especially First Nations and religious groups, called for a boycott of the referendum, by the May 15 deadline almost 800,000 British Columbians had cast their ballots. Critics called for a boycott of the referendum and First Nations groups collected as many ballots as possible so that they might be destroyed publicly.

Of the ballots that were returned, over 80 per cent of participating voters agreed to all eight proposed principles. Treaty negotiations resumed.

In the lead-up to the 2005 election, Campbell discussed opening up a New Relationship with Aboriginal People. This position was directly opposite to his view of aboriginal treaties pursued in the 2000 Nisga'a Final Treaty court case, discussed above. The "New Relationship" became the foundation for agreements in principle that were made during the second term, but ultimately rejected by the membership of the First Nations involved.

Health care
In 2004, Campbell imposed an unprecedented 15% pay cut to health care employees. Early in its first term, without consulting labour unions, his government passed legislation (Bill 29, the Health and Social Services Delivery Improvement Act) that unilaterally amended labour agreements and required health authorities to contract out positions when savings could be predicted. This led to the privatization of more than 8,000 healthcare jobs. These changes met resistance from many health care workers and resulted in a strike by some of them. A court order and amendments by the government to parts of the legislation ended the strike. The unions took the issue to the Supreme Court of Canada, which ruled in 2007 that the Act violated "good faith" requirements for collective bargaining.

The Campbell government increased health funding by $3 billion during its first term in office to help meet the demand at hand and to increase wages for some health professionals. As well, they increased the number of new nurse training spaces by 2,500, an increase of 62 percent. At the same time, it nearly doubled the doctors in training and opened new medical training facilities in Victoria and Prince George.

Wage rates for doctors and nurses increased in the Campbell government's first term. Nurses received a 23.5 percent raise while doctors received a 20.6 percent raise after arbitration. Doctors had threatened to go on strike because of the original Campbell plan to slash their fees, which was seen as a breach of contract, with the dispute being sent to arbitration.

Impaired driving
In January 2003, after visiting broadcaster Fred Latremouille, Campbell was arrested and pleaded no contest for driving under the influence of alcohol while vacationing in Hawaii. According to court records, Campbell's blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit. In Hawaii, drunk driving is only a misdemeanour, whereas in Canada it is a Criminal Code offence. As is customary in the United States, Campbell's mugshot was provided to the media by Hawaii police. The image has proved to be a lasting personal embarrassment, frequently used by detractors and opponents. Campbell was fined $913 (US) and the court ordered him to take part in a substance abuse program, and to be assessed for alcoholism.

A national anti-drinking and driving group, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Canada called for Campbell to resign. Campbell refused.

Minimum wage
On November 1, 2001, the Campbell BC Liberals honoured the previous NDP government's legislation to increase the minimum wage to $8.00 per hour from $7.60, while at the same time authority was given so new entrants into the labour force could be paid $6 per hour, 25% lower than the minimum wage. In 2010, British Columbia had the lowest minimum wage amongst the 13 provinces and territories. Campbell's successor, Christy Clark, announced that the minimum wage would increase in three stages to begin on May 1, 2011.

2010 Winter Olympics
British Columbia won the right to host the 2010 Winter Olympics on July 2, 2003. This was a joint Winter Olympics bid by Vancouver and the ski resort of Whistler. Campbell attended the final presentations in Prague, the Czech Republic.

On February 12, 2010, Campbell was in attendance at the opening ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and attended events during the games and was present at the closing ceremony.

On April 23, 2010, Campbell received the Olympic Order from the Canadian Olympic Committee for being a dedicated proponent of the Olympic Movement.

Second term
In the May 17, 2005, election, Campbell and the BC Liberals won a second majority government with a reduced majority.

Economy
430,000 new jobs had been created in B.C. since December 2001, the best job creation record in Canada at the time. In 2007, the economy created 70,800 more jobs, almost all full-time positions. By Spring 2007, unemployment had fallen to 4.0%, the lowest rate in 30 years. However, 40,300 jobs were lost in 2008, mostly in December (35,100), and the unemployment rates sat at 7.8% as of July 2009, the same level they were at in July 2001.

Education
On October 7, 2005, following the successive imposition of contracts on BC teachers, British Columbia's teachers began an indefinite walk-out. Campbell having made striking illegal for teachers, educators referred to this as an act of civil disobedience. Despite fines and contempt charges, the teachers' walk-out lasted two weeks, and threatened to culminate in a general strike across the province.

Environmental
In 2008, Premier Campbell's government developed and entrenched in law the Climate Action Plan. The Plan is claimed by the government to be one of the most progressive plans to address greenhouse gas emissions in North America, due in part to the revenue-neutral carbon tax.

Gordon Campbell told Tim Flannery that he introduced the carbon tax in British Columbia after reading his book The Weather Makers (2005).

First Nations
The Campbell government attempted to negotiate treaties with a number of First Nations in its second term. Final agreements in principle were signed with the Tsawwassen First Nation, Maa-nulth Treaty Society, and Lheidli T’enneh First Nations. The Tsawwassen Treaty was passed by the band's membership in a heavily contested and divisive referendum but came into effect on April 3, 2009.

The Maa-nulth Treaty, which covers a group of Nuu-chah-nulth band governments, is pending ratification by the federal government while the Lheidli-T'enneh Treaty was rejected in the referendum held by that band.

Health care
The Campbell government launched the Conversation on Health, a province-wide consultation with British Columbians on their health care to lay the groundwork for changes to the principles of the Canada Health Act that were presented in the Fall of 2007.

Third term
His government were re-elected in the May 12, 2009, election. Their share of total seats remained almost unchanged, as they won 49 seats in a new expanded 85-seat legislature.

BC Rail e-mail controversy
Some five years after the BC Legislature Raids, controversy arose when it was revealed that e-mails among Campbell, his staff, and other cabinet ministers may not have been deleted years ago as first claimed. An affidavit filed by Rosemarie Hayes, the B.C. government's manager in charge of information services, suggested that copies of the e-mails may have existed as recently as May 2009, but it was ordered that they be destroyed at that time.

On July 20, 2009, the Supreme Court of British Columbia judge conducting the Basi-Virk trial, Madam Justice Elizabeth Bennett, ordered Campbell and other top officials to turn over their e-mail records to the court by August 17. These were never located nor surrendered to the Court.

HST controversy
On July 23, 2009, Campbell announced British Columbia would move towards a Harmonized Sales Tax, or HST. The new 12% sales tax would combine and replace the previous 5% Goods and Services Tax and 7% Provincial Sales Tax. The announcement was met with strong opposition from political opponents, news media, and opposition from most members of the public. However, the proposed tax received a positive reaction from the business community, strong supporters of the BC Liberals. Much of the opposition stemmed from Campbell's perceived dishonesty about the HST as his government had said it was not on their radar prior to the election despite leaked emails revealing it was, and that it equated to a tax hike for several sectors.

On August 24, representatives from the retail, resource, and film industries held a news conference to speak out in favour of harmonizing BC's sales taxes. In addition, sales tax harmonization has been hailed by the C.D. Howe Institute, a think tank, as being "crucial for B.C to maintain its economic competitiveness." David Docherty, a political science professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, noted that anti-HST sentiment was evident in left-wing populist groups who viewed it as "regressive" and those on the right who "hate all taxes". Polls consistently showed ...opposition to the HST in BC at "82 to 85 percent". "Shortly after the HST announcement, Ipsos Reid reported 85 percent opposition in British Columbia, dropping only slightly to 82 percent a few months later."

On June 11, 2010, Blair Lekstrom resigned as BC's Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, saying he was leaving both the cabinet and the caucus over a fundamental disagreement with the BC Liberals on the harmonized sales tax. He told The Canadian Press: "It was a tough decision but it had to be made. Fundamentally, the HST is it. The people I represent say ... we want you to put the brakes on the HST." His constituency bordered on Alberta, which had no provincial sales tax and businesses were concerned they would lose sales.

A freedom of information request came to light on September 1, 2010, revealing that the BC Liberals had formed HST-related plans prior to the 2009 election—contrary to their statements on the subject.

Resignation
On November 3, 2010, Campbell made a televised address to the public announcing his intention to resign as Premier of British Columbia. The announcement was made after months of strong political opposition to the implementation of the HST, which saw Campbell's approval rating fall to only 9%, according to an Angus Reid poll, and led to rumours that he has lost support of some members of his cabinet. Another factor in his resignation was the ongoing BC Rail Scandal trial in which the Premier and other members of his cabinet and staff were due to face embarrassing cross-examination in relation to the Basi-Virk trial, which was called to a halt with plea bargain around the same time. On December 5, 2010, while answering questions from reporters, he "hinted strongly" that he will not stay on as an MLA after his successor as Liberal leader is chosen in February, according to Rod Mickleburgh of The Globe and Mail. Campbell resigned as premier on March 14, 2011; he was succeeded by Christy Clark.

High Commissioner to the UK

In late June 2011 it was reported that Campbell was to be named Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. On August 15, 2011, Campbell was formally announced to succeed the post. On September 15, 2011, Campbell officially became the Canadian High Commissioner in London. He represented Canadian interests throughout Britain until his term ended in 2016.

Campbell was shortlisted for the Grassroot Diplomat Initiative Award in 2015 for his work on business partnership as the High Commissioner of Canada, and he remains in the directory of the Grassroot Diplomat Who's Who publication.

In January 2019, a former High Commission employee, Judith Prins, filed a sexual assault complaint with Scotland Yard alleging that Campbell groped her in 2013. A spokesperson for Campbell denied the allegation, saying the complaint was investigated and dismissed at the time. In September 2020, details emerged of a civil suit filed by Prins naming Campbell and the Government of Canada as defendants. She is seeking damages for anxiety, stress and lost income. Campbell responded to this news saying: "This has been settled once before, more than five years ago now. It was dealt with fully."

Honours
On September 2, 2011, it was announced that Campbell would receive the Order of British Columbia, the second Premier to be a recipient. Some believed his nomination contravened the legislation that prevented an elected official from being appointed while holding office. However, on September 7, 2011, Lance S. G. Finch, the Chief Justice of British Columbia and chair of the Order of BC Advisory Council declared that although his nomination package was received on March 10, 2011 (four days before his resignation as Premier), Campbell was appointed to the Order on September 2, 2011 at which time he was not an elected MLA.

In 2014, Thompson Rivers University gave Campbell the Honorary degree of Doctor of Laws for his contributions to the founding of their newly opened law school.

He was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002 and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Gordon Campbell


text:
Creed (band)

Creed is an American rock band from Tallahassee, Florida formed in 1994. Creed was prominent in the post-grunge movement of the late 1990s and early 2000s, releasing three consecutive multi-platinum albums; their second, Human Clay (1999) received diamond (11x platinum) certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Creed has sold over 28 million records in the United States, has sold over 53 million albums worldwide, and was the ninth best-selling musical act of the 2000s.

For most of its existence, the band has consisted of lead vocalist Scott Stapp, guitarist and vocalist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, and drummer Scott Phillips. Creed's first two studio albums, My Own Prison (1997) and Human Clay (1999) were released to commercial success despite unfavorable critical reception; Marshall left the band in 2000. Human Clay remains one of the best selling albums of all time and contained the Billboard Hot 100 number one single "With Arms Wide Open"—which also won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song. The band's third album, Weathered, was released in 2001, with Tremonti on bass guitar. Creed disbanded in 2004; Stapp pursued a solo career while Tremonti, Marshall, and Phillips founded the band Alter Bridge with Myles Kennedy.

Creed reunited in 2009, releasing their fourth album Full Circle and performing several tours before separating again in 2012. After an eleven-year hiatus, Creed reunited once more in July 2023 and subsequently announced a headlining tour throughout 2024.

Early years (1994–1996)
Creed began in 1994 in Tallahassee, Florida. Founding members vocalist Scott Stapp and guitarist Mark Tremonti had been classmates in high school and friends at Florida State University. Stapp and Tremonti realized that they had a mutual love of writing music and performing. After multiple discussions and much time spent writing songs, several of which addressed themes of Christian theology and spirituality (due to Stapp's spiritual background as the stepson of a Pentecostal minister), the duo held auditions that led to the recruitment of bassist Brian Marshall, drummer Scott Phillips, and rhythm guitarist Brian Brasher, completing the quintet. The five-piece band lasted through 1994, and Brasher left in 1995. Creed decided to remain as a quartet. The four musicians had already written and collaborated on four songs that would form part of their chart-topping debut album, My Own Prison. The band found local success, playing shows in bars and small dives in Tallahassee. In 2012, Stapp wrote that Creed first performed under the name "Naked Toddler" at Yianni's in Tallahassee; the name was picked up by Tremonti from a headline in that day's newspaper, but the reaction that night to the name was negative. The group was trying to find ideas for a better name when Marshall said he had been in a band called Mattox Creed. Stapp latched onto the ‘creed’ aspect, and the band agreed.

My Own Prison and rise to fame (1997–1998)
Wanting "a real show at a club", they managed to persuade the owner of a bar in Tallahassee to book them by claiming that they could guarantee an audience of 200 people. Owner and manager Jeff Hanson recalled that the band had played mostly cover versions, but two original songs stood out and impressed him so much that he promptly signed them to his management and promotions company and set about developing their act. For their first recordings he matched the band up with John Kurzweg, a producer and friend of Hanson's who he felt was an appropriate fit. Together they recorded their debut album for $6,000, which was funded by Hanson. The album, titled My Own Prison, was initially self-released on their own label, Blue Collar Records, selling 6,000 copies throughout Florida.

My Own Prison had been circulating around the music industry for a while when, in May 1997, Diana Meltzer from Wind-Up Records heard the album and decided almost immediately that she wanted to sign them to the label, which had creative issues with Baboon over the latter's reluctance to alter their image and sound to suit the label's demands. Meltzer later said that she heard "an arena band". Within the same week, Meltzer, together with Wind-up president Steve Lerner, CEO Alan Meltzer, and A&R representative Joel Mark, flew to Tallahassee to see Creed perform live and decide for certain whether to offer them a contract. "Seeing the energy in the room when Scott Stapp stepped up to the mic, and hearing his powerful voice fill the room, alongside Mark Tremonti's now legendary guitar riffs and that big Creed anthemic rock sound, was all I needed," she told HitQuarters. According to Tremonti in his "Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction" video in 2015, Creed had been rejected by Atlantic and Cherry Universal Records before Wind-up flew down to sign them. The band signed with Wind-up Records in 1997. My Own Prison was remixed, given a more radio-friendly sound, and re-released by Wind-up Records in August 1997. Four singles were released from the album: "My Own Prison", "Torn", "What's This Life For", and "One". Each of these songs reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, making Creed the first band to accomplish such a feat with a debut album. With little MTV exposure, media coverage, or label support, My Own Prison sold extremely well, moving over six million copies and going six times platinum. Creed continued to top year-end charts and was recognized as the Rock Artist of the Year at the 1998 Billboard Music Awards. My Own Prison was also the highest-selling heavy music record of 1998 on Nielsen SoundScan's Hard Music chart. The band's hit song "My Own Prison" was also featured as a live performance on the charity album Live in the X Lounge in 1998. The band covered Alice Cooper's song "I'm Eighteen" for The Faculty soundtrack in 1998. Critical reception toward My Own Prison was mostly favorable. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic gave it four out of five stars and said that Creed "work well within their chicken tender dinner" despite "basically [falling] into the category of post-Seattle bands who temper their grunge with a dose of Live earnestness." The album lyrically deals with themes of questioning and struggling with faith and spirituality.

Human Clay and Marshall's departure (1999–2000)
With money made from My Own Prison, the band started to write for their second album, Human Clay. The album's first single, "Higher", spent a record-breaking 17 weeks on the top of the rock radio charts. In 2009, "Higher" was ranked as the 95th greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1. The album was released in 1999, when My Own Prison was still doing reasonably well. However, Human Clay was an instant and overwhelming success debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and selling over ten million copies over the next two years, allowing it to become one of the few rock albums to be certified diamond by the RIAA. The album was the band's first to hit No. 1 in the U.S., where it debuted with first week sales of 315,000, and stayed on top for two weeks. After the album's release, three follow-up singles were released in 2000: "What If", "With Arms Wide Open", and "Are You Ready?". The first three of those topped radio charts, giving Creed a total of seven chart-topping singles. The band would later go on to win their first, and to date only, Grammy Award for "With Arms Wide Open" for Best Rock Song in 2001.

Reviews for Human Clay were largely positive. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic said that the record "does make it clear that there is an audience for post-grunge hard rock, as long as it's delivered without pretension and as long as it meets the audience's desire for straight-ahead, hard-hitting music." The lyrical content of Human Clay is a slight departure from that of My Own Prison, touching on subjects such as fatherhood ("With Arms Wide Open") and lucid dreaming ("Higher"), as well as darker, more violent themes such as sexual abuse ("Wash Away Those Years") and hostility ("What If").

In March 2000, an authorized home video about Creed was announced on the band's website, but never released. During the summer of 2000, bassist Brian Marshall began a spiral into alcoholism. The band had a meeting with management to discuss Marshall's future. Stapp and Tremonti supported the idea of Marshall going to rehab and attempted to talk Marshall into going, but he refused. Initially, the public thought Marshall was let go because he criticized Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder in a radio interview with KNDD in June 2000, claiming that Scott Stapp was a better songwriter, and criticized Pearl Jam's recent albums for "having songs without hooks." Stapp later distanced the rest of the band from Marshall's comments and stated, "Yes, we get tired of the PJ question, but there is no excuse for the arrogance and stupidity [of Marshall]. I ask you all not to judge Creed as a band, because the statements made were not the band's feelings, they were Brian's. I'm sorry if Brian offended anyone, and he has already apologized for his comments." Although it was reported that Marshall left Creed "on friendly terms", he did not. Tremonti and Stapp were concerned for Marshall and their collective friendships, but soon after the controversy, Marshall formed a new band called Grand Luxx with his old Mattox Creed bandmates. Stapp stated that Marshall's leaving was his choice and was unrelated to the Pearl Jam comments. Brett Hestla, from the band Virgos Merlot, replaced Marshall as a touring member of Creed.

Weathered and break-up (2001–2004)
Creed worked on their third album for most of 2001, with Tremonti choosing to play bass on the record to "[preserve] the band's initial core," although Hestla remained in Creed's touring lineup. Weathered was released on November 20, 2001. Six singles were released from the album: "My Sacrifice" (which earned the band a nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 2003), "Bullets", "One Last Breath", "Hide", "Don't Stop Dancing", and "Weathered". The album was a commercial bestseller and was certified platinum six times over and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200. It remained at that spot for eight weeks, a record which Creed notably shares with The Beatles. The tour to promote Weathered was met with considerable controversy; it was delayed in April 2002 when Stapp suffered a concussion and vertebrae damage after being involved in a car crash. As a result, in addition to his growing addiction to alcohol, he became addicted to pain medication. This, along with other events, led to a considerably controversial concert on December 29, 2002, at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, which ultimately led to the band's disunion. Four disappointed concertgoers filed a lawsuit against the band, claiming that Scott Stapp "was so intoxicated and/or medicated that he was unable to sing the lyrics of a single Creed song." Creed later issued an apology on Stapp's behalf, although Stapp would later deny the claims. Ultimately, the case was dismissed. Stapp later confirmed that he was intoxicated during the concert, but he asserted that he was not incoherent.

Creed disbanded in June 2004, after more than a year of inactivity. Tremonti cited tensions between Stapp and the rest of the band as the reasoning. He said that the relationship with Stapp had become so strained that the creative juices were no longer flowing. The reality was that Stapp was in Maui battling his addiction to alcohol and drugs. Almost simultaneous with the announcement of Creed's break-up, Stapp opted for a solo career. On November 22, 2004, Wind-up Records released Creed's Greatest Hits album. Stapp released his debut solo album The Great Divide in 2005. Tremonti and Phillips reunited with Marshall to form a new band, Alter Bridge, in 2004 with singer Myles Kennedy, formerly of American rock band The Mayfield Four.

Reunion, Full Circle and 2012 tour (2009–2012)
While Tremonti referred to Creed as "officially in our past" in 2006, years later, on April 27, 2009, Creed's website announced that the band had reunited for a new tour and plans for a new album. According to Tremonti, "We're all very excited to reconnect with our fans and each other after seven long years." He later added that being in Creed again was "the last thing [he] expected." Phillips also stated: "Our career as Creed came to a very abrupt and unforeseen ending. After reflecting on some of the greatest personal and professional moments of our lives, we've come to realize that we are still very capable of continuing that career and our friendship on a grander scale than ever before." In an interview for People magazine, Stapp elaborated on the reunion, saying, "We never felt like we weren't together. We're not looking at this as a reunion. It's more of a rebirth."

In June 2009, Creed performed with Marshall on bass for the first time in eight years on Sessions@AOL, showing the band playing four of their hits. In addition, the band performed live on Fox & Friends on June 26, 2009. Creed's reunion tour, with touring guitarist Eric Friedman, kicked off on August 6, 2009, and concluded on October 20. Full Circle, Creed's first album in eight years, came out on October 27, 2009. Stapp explained the title as follows: "It really defines and articulates, melody-wise and lyrically, what's happened with us. We've come full circle and it's a great place to be." The first single from Full Circle, "Overcome", was posted on the band's official website on August 18, 2009, the same day the radio premiere started along with its release as a digital download on August 25. The second single, "Rain", was released to radio stations on September 23 and became available on October 6, 2009, as another digital download. The third single, "A Thousand Faces", was released in 2010.

On September 25, 2009, Creed performed a concert in Houston, Texas that was recorded, broadcast via a live internet stream, and subsequently released on December 8, 2010, as a concert film titled Creed Live, the band's first live recording. The performance shattered Justin Timberlake's world record for the most cameras used at a live music event by using an unprecedented total of 239. Three other world records were also broken. The performance also featured the first usage of the "big freeze" technology, popularized by the 1999 film The Matrix, in a concert environment. Drummer Scott Phillips also confirmed that Full Circle will not be the band's final album. The same announcement confirmed that Creed was to go on a world tour in support of Full Circle between April and September 2010, starting with an Australia/New Zealand tour, followed by South America, Europe, and North America. The tour was called The 20-10 Tour. Tickets for the tour were ten and twenty dollars to stand up against rising concert ticket prices. The first 2,010 tickets purchased for every concert did not include any service fees. Despite these efforts, not every show sold out, and critical reviews were mostly mixed. Skillet joined the tour as main support.

Creed reconvened in late 2011 and early 2012 to begin work on a potential fifth studio album. A tour was also announced in which the band would perform their first two albums, My Own Prison and Human Clay, from front to back over the course of two nights, with selected tracks from Weathered and Full Circle also featured. This tour kicked off with two shows on April 12 and 13, 2012, at the Chicago Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, with the band performing My Own Prison the first night and Human Clay the second. They also toured in South America and Indonesia.

Hiatus (2013–2023)
The band went on hiatus in 2012 or 2013. In October 2013, Stapp noted in an interview that extensive work was done on a fifth album throughout 2011 and 2012. However, the project was subsequently abandoned. Stapp has maintained that Creed is "still a band." He also said that he's open to continuing to work with Creed when the time is right.

In June 2015, while promoting his second solo album Cauterize, Mark Tremonti claimed in an interview with Kerrang that he "[hasn't] been a close friend of Scott's in 9 years". The other members did not speak to Stapp throughout the South American Tour in 2012 and plans for their fifth studio album were shelved, and they continued to work with Myles Kennedy in Alter Bridge.

In September 2015, Stapp appeared on the Dr. Oz Show. When asked about a Creed reunion, Stapp replied: "I can tell you what, I sure hope so. I love the guys with all my heart and if they're watching, 'Come on guys, let's make a record.'" He later doubled down on the statements by stating that Creed would "definitely" reunite and that he expected new material from the band within "the next two years." When asked about Stapp's statements, Tremonti clarified that he was still busy promoting his solo albums and that Alter Bridge would record and tour in 2016, making it unlikely for him to return to Creed within Stapp's proposed timeline.

On November 20, 2015, Creed released a compilation album, entitled With Arms Wide Open: A Retrospective. It was a boxed set with three discs: one with hits, the second with rarities, and the third with acoustic versions of hits. In the United States, the album was available exclusively at Walmart.

In 2016, Stapp joined Art of Anarchy. His first album with the band was released in March 2017, and is titled The Madness. Alter Bridge continues to tour and record, while Mark Tremonti released, with his solo metal band Tremonti, his third album Dust in April 2016, and his fourth album, A Dying Machine, in April 2018. Scott Phillips has drummed in the supergroup project Projected, releasing the first album Human (2012) and the second effort the double album Ignite My Insanity (2017). Scott Stapp has since bridged away from Art of Anarchy, having released his third solo album, The Space Between the Shadows, on July 19, 2019.

In November 2020, drummer Scott Phillips announced that a reunion was a possibility.

Second reunion and return to popularity (2023–present)
On July 19, 2023, the band announced that they had reunited and would be headlining the Summer of '99 cruise in April 2024. On October 30, 2023, the band announced The Summer of '99 Tour, their first tour since 2012. The tour will feature more than 40 shows across the US with support from 3 Doors Down as well as Finger Eleven, Daughtry, Switchfoot, Tonic, and Big Wreck on select dates. This was followed on February 6, 2024, with the announcement of the "Are You Ready? Tour" starting in November 2024 with supporting acts 3 Doors Down, Mammoth WVH, and Finger Eleven. By June 2024, Creed's return to mainstream popularity was evidenced by a return to four Billboard charts.

Musical style and influences
Creed has been primarily described as post-grunge, hard rock, alternative rock, and alternative metal. Creed also has been categorized, but less frequently, as Christian rock, grunge, nu metal, and heavy metal.

Stapp's influences include Otis Redding, Donny Hathaway, Def Leppard, U2, The Doors, and Led Zeppelin. Guitarist Mark Tremonti's influences include thrash metal bands like Slayer, Metallica, Exodus, and Forbidden.

According to a 1999 piece in The Washington Post:"The biblical imagery of singer Scott Stapp's lyrics got Creed typed as Christian rock by early listeners, and the band's denial of any religious objective has unsettled some of its more fervent fans. 'We are not a Christian band,' Stapp insists on the band's website. 'A Christian band has an agenda to lead others to believe in their specific religious beliefs. We have no agenda!'" In 2022, Stapp said in an interview, "Creed was not a Christian band." Bassist Brian Marshall, who named the band, has noted that Stapp uses spiritual imagery as a metaphor in his lyrics.

Legacy and reception
Creed was one of the most commercially successful rock bands of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Their first three studio albums, My Own Prison, Human Clay, and Weathered, have all gone multi-platinum in the United States, selling six million, 11 million, and six million copies respectively. The band also won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song for the song "With Arms Wide Open" in 2001.

However, Creed has been negatively received by some professional critics, such as Robert Christgau. In 2013, readers of Rolling Stone magazine voted Creed the worst band of the 1990s. Jonah Weiner of Slate has tried to make the case that the band was "seriously underrated"; Joe Coscarelli of Mediaite countered that "most people hate Creed's combination of overwrought power-balladry and Christian-infused testosterone." In 2011, Billboard ranked Creed as the 18th-best artist of the 2000s.

Band members
Current members
 * Scott Stapp – lead vocals (1994–2004, 2009–2012, 2023–present)
 * Mark Tremonti – lead guitar, backing and occasional lead vocals (1994–2004, 2009–2012, 2023–present), bass (2001)
 * Scott Phillips – drums, percussion (1994–2004; 2009–2012; 2023–present), keyboards (2001)
 * Brian Marshall – bass (1994–2000; 2009–2012; 2023–present)

Former members
 * Brian Brasher – rhythm guitar (1994–1995)

Touring members
 * Brett Hestla – bass, backing vocals (2000–2004)
 * Eric Friedman – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2009–2012, 2024–present)

Discography

 * Studio albums
 * My Own Prison (1997)
 * Human Clay (1999)
 * Weathered (2001)
 * Full Circle (2009)

Awards and nominations
The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States. Creed has won one award out of three nominations.
 * Grammy Awards

Created by Dick Clark in 1973, the American Music Awards is an annual music awards ceremony and one of several major annual American music awards shows. Creed has received four American Music Award from seven nominations.
 * American Music Awards

The MTV Video Music Awards are presented annually by MTV and honor accomplishments in the music video medium. Creed has received two nominations.
 * MTV Video Music Awards

Established in 1995, the MTV Video Music Brazil awards, commonly known as VMB, are MTV Brasil's annual award ceremony. Many award winners are chosen by MTV viewers. {| class="wikitable" !Year !Nominated work !Award !Result !Ref.
 * MTV Video Music Brazil
 * align=center|2002
 * "My Sacrifice"
 * rowspan=2|Best International Video
 * Nominated
 * align=center|2003
 * "Don't Stop Dancing"
 * Nominated
 * align=center|2003
 * "Don't Stop Dancing"
 * Nominated

title: Creed (band)