Sinn Féin’s Paul Maskey has romped home in West Belfast and, as this was the final seat declared at the Titanic Exhibition Centre, he quipped “they kept the best to last – and quite clearly West Belfast is the best”.
There was never any fear of Mr Maskey losing his seat and he secured a whopping 21,009 votes.
Gerry Carroll, of People Before Profit, was his closest competitor with 5,048 votes, followed by the SDLP’s Paul Doherty with 4,318 votes.
Sinn Féin has dominated this seat for over three decades and it is without doubt the party’s safest.
Mr Maskey, who was elected for the first time in 2011, vowed to continue standing up for and fighting for West Belfast and said the constituency he represents “is going one way – and it’s going up”.
Thanking his party for its support, he added: “I would urge other people to join us and make sure that we continue to drive West Belfast forward in the best manner we possibly can.”
The Unionist vote was represented by the DUP’s Frank McCoubrey, who secured 4,304 votes, with the TUV attracting 2,010. UUP candidate Ben Sharkey obtained just 461 votes.
