Sinn Féin maintained their tight control over the West Tyrone constituency as incumbent MP Órfhlaith Begley returned to the seat with an increased majority of more than 15,000 votes in Magherafelt.
Increasing the party’s vote share by more than 10% from just over 40% in 2019, Ms Begley emerged comfortably victorious over her nearest challenger Tom Buchanan of the DUP, who polled 6794 votes.
Boundary changes appeared to help Ms Begley to increase her vote share in the constituency, with the addition of Pomeroy in particular adding to the nationalist vote in the area.
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Ms Begley was joined by husband Conor and six-month-old baby Blaithin as she toasted her success for the seat she first took on in 2018.
Ms Begley told joyous Sinn Féin supporters in Magherafelt she would continue to campaign to have the A5 road upgrade built.
“I will continue to champion the A5, this is without a doubt one of the most dangerous roads on this island and unfortunately too many lives have been lost and communities left utterly devastated.
“One life lost is one far too many and I am committed to ensuring the A5 is built under Sinn Fein’s watch.”
“We have had a six month old baby at home so it has been quite difficult on the campaign trail, things have been hectic in our house.
Ms Begley also used her platform to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, calling it ‘one of the gravest humanitarian crises the world has ever seen’.
Voter apathy had been touted as the incumbent MP’s biggest challenge, but a turnout of almost 60% saw Sinn Féin cruise to one of the biggest majorities in the 18 Westminster constituencies in the North.
The SDLP’s Daniel McCrossan’s vote share fell from 17% to 13% in a disappointing night for the West Tyrone MLA.
UUP candidate Matthew Bell scraped ahead of the TUV into fourth place and into the second largest unionist party in the area, while Alliance councillor Stephen Donnelly picked up just 5% of the vote.
