West Belfast has been a safe seat for Sinn Fein for more than 25 years.
Incumbent Paul Maskey is set for a fifth term as MP after succeeding former party president Gerry Adams in 2011.
While the party has held more than 50% of the vote share for almost three decades, Paul Maskey was the only representative to lose votes in 2019 down almost 13% on 2017.
Despite this, they maintain a clear margin and hold four of the five assembly seats for the area with the last going to People Before Profit (PBP).
PBP MLA Gerry Carroll has made it to the top three in last four parliamentary elections, a minor feat in an election where the runner up gets nothing. In 2019 he held 16% of the vote share, an increase of almost 3% on 2017.
In a predominantly nationalist boundary, the DUP has remained the top choice for the unionist vote since the 1990s.
Councillor Frank McCoubrey is representing the party for a fourth time. He secured almost 14% of the shared vote in the 2019 election with support growing year on year. The TUV will also be on the ballot paper with Anne McClure and the UUP with Ben Sharky.
The SDLP is fielding Belfast city councillor Paul Doherty for a third time. He was unsuccessful in 2019 with support for the party dwindling since the departure of Alex Attwood.
Meanwhile Alliance candidate Eoin Millar has come under fire for ‘canvassing remotely’ as he takes part in the Washington Ireland Programme during the election. The party has been accused of not putting forward viable candidates in the area and is unlikely to make notable advances in this election, despite a gain of 3% to have around 5% of the vote share in 2019.
Also on the ballot is Gerard Herdman (Aontú) Ash Jones (Green NI) and Tony Mallon ( Independent).
