Claire Hanna stormed to victory in South Belfast and Mid Down at Westminster with another convincing performance.
Her majority of 15,000 from 2019 has shrunk ever so slightly to sit at a solid 12,000.
It would seem that voters have rewarded Ms Hanna’s performance as MP for the constituency over the past five years with another win.
In her victory speech, she outlined the special relationship she has with voters in the seat saying: “I feel like a very specific cog for this specific machine.”
On the night, she easily topped the poll with 21,345 votes for a vote share of 49.1%, after being the pre-election favourite to win in the rebranded constituency.
Speaking to The Irish News, Ms Hanna said that she was “happy and relieved” that voters had returned her to Westminster, but added that there was “a lot to be done” in the next five years.
“A big part of the focus is going to be about the financial framework and Stormont reform and stability,” she said.
“That’s a big killer of our public services and it’s something that we can and should fix in this mandate.
Her nearest rival, Kate Nicholl of Alliance, finished in second place with 8,839 votes (20.3%).
A strong performance from the former Lord Mayor of Belfast saw the party leapfrog the DUP into second place.
With two MLAs and a solid runner-up performance, Alliance have cemented themselves as a force to be reckoned with in this constituency.
Turnout in the seat sat at 58.5% and was down on 2019 by nearly 10%.
At the previous election, turnout sat at 67.7%, however this drop is in line with what was seen right across the north at this election.
The constituency has nearly doubled in size since 2019 – however, changes to the seat made as part of the Boundary Commission’s review have not greatly altered the demographics.
The seat continues to be regarded as one of the most socially, ethnically and religiously diverse in the north.
A former unionist bastion, the best unionist result on the night came from the DUP’s Tracy Kelly, who finished third on 6,859 votes (15.8%).
A Belfast City councillor for the Botanic DEA, her campaign was quieter in comparison to that of Ms Hanna and Ms Nicholl.
The UUP’s Michael Henderson finished fourth with 2,653 votes (6.1%); this is the second unsuccessful election in a row for Mr Henderson, after losing his Lisburn and Castlereagh Council seat last year.
He was closely followed by the followed by the TUV’s Dan Boucher on 2,218 votes (5.1%) and former Deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast, Áine Groogan of the Green Party, with 1,577 votes (3.6%).
