Sometimes it is easy to manipulate numbers to fit a particular narrative. Commentators do that (mea culpa).

Modern party leaders must look back with envy at the longevity of their predecessors. Party leaders were rarely deposed. Some fell after one election too many. Others jumped ship to protect or save their reputation. Some simply set out to write their own history.

There is little insight in measuring the longevity of political leadership or relating it to the success of their respective organisations. Across the island of Ireland, all parties, north and south, have seen leaders come and go, some with relief, others with applause.

In Northern Ireland, the Ulster Unionists are in a class of their own when it comes to leadership changes: there have been no fewer than ten incumbents since 1970. In times of political crisis, personnel changes are more common.

In the south, it is the Irish Labour Party that has had the most party leaders in the survey from 1970 to the present, with eleven title holders.

As a political organisation, Sinn Féin is a bit of an anomaly when it comes to the usual rules for selecting party leaders. Its process is shrouded in secrecy and about as democratic as a conclave of cardinals electing a pope.

After the laying on of hands, the lay people/party members only have to ratify and follow the result.

Since 1970, leadership crises within the republican movement have led not so much to a change in leadership as to a split in the organisation itself; first to the left with the formation of the ‘Stickies’, also known as Sinn Féin (the Workers’ Party), and then again in the 1980s, leading to the formation of the harder-line and more orthodox republican party Sinn Féin.

Since then, Sinn Féin has only had two leaders, which makes it quite unique. It is believed that this lack of transparency and tendency towards autocracy is not sustainable if one wants to have an accountable and open government.

Fine Gael, once on the brink of political irrelevance, is now seeking a record number of terms in office. Since 1970, the party has had eight new leaders, including several politicians with a reputation for memorable failures.

The DUP is still the largest party in the Union, but its long-serving MPs are aging. Despite the best efforts of its leader, the party is divided. In a rickety DeLorean (with too many passengers), the once all-powerful DUP is being pulled back from the future.

The Alliance Party has had its ups and downs since 1970. It has had seven leaders in total and although it has never reached the dizzying heights of vote share, it has secured the bronze medal under Naomi Long. The Alliance leader is now the second longest serving leader in the North after Colum Eastwood, who has been in office for almost 10 years and is only 41 years old.

The SDLP, the DUP and the indefatigable Fianna Fáil are tied for the leadership. All three parties once dominated their respective areas. In different ways, they have now fallen into disarray.

Structurally, the SDLP has always struggled to evolve from a civil rights movement into a political party in the traditional sense. Despite representing some of the most attractive political positions, the party is heavily dependent on local chiefs and their ability to manage their fiefdoms.

Fianna Fáil is the unsinkable Molly Brown of Irish politics as the party fights for another term in government.

The DUP’s position is precarious. It is still the largest party within unionism, but its long-serving MPs are aging. Despite the best efforts of its leader, the party is divided.

In a rickety DeLorean (with too many passengers in the back seats), the once all-powerful DUP is brought back from the future.

Edwin Poots’s almost Damascene revelation that the DUP must reach out to new settled communities to replace the dwindling white Protestant working class on which it once relied is breathtakingly confusing.

US talk show host Oprah Winfrey said, “Turn wounds into wisdom.” Politicians often inflict more wounds with words than with bullets, so perhaps their political success should be measured by their wisdom rather than their longevity.