The UUP’s Robin Swann was polling strongly in early counting in his bid to take the South Antrim seat from the DUP’s Paul Girvan.
Mr Girvan has held the seat for the DUP since 2017 after unseating the UUP’s Danny Kinahan.
Who has been elected in Northern Ireland? Full results from Westminster election.
However, the UUP has made the constituency a key target in this election with MLA Robin Swann switching constituencies to run for Westminster. Mr Swann stepped down as health minister to focus on the campaign, hoping to reclaim the constituency for the party he once led.
Early indicators suggest Mr Swann is outpolling Mr Girvan in some areas as the count continues at Meadowbank in Magherafelt. The UUP is hopeful of a return to Westminster through this constituency seat after several years.
With the TUV fielding candidate Mel Lucas, the DUP’s vote is expected to come under greater pressure, giving Swann a reasonable chance of a slim majority.
Alliance more than doubled its parties vote share to more than 19% last time out with candidate John Blair standing again and is expected to make the top three.
Also a returning candidate Declan Kearney of Sinn Fein is expected to come in fourth.
SDLP Cllr Roisin Lynch is also returning as her party’s candidate. However the SDLP has suffered a steady decline in votes here for almost two decades, with the share falling each Westminster election.
Aontú and the Green Party are fielding Westminster candidates for the first time but are not expected to deliver any significant results.
