| Electorate | Seats | Total Poll | Turnout | Valid Poll | Spoiled Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 62,423 | 1 | 40,830 | 65.41% | 40,633 | 197 |
Vote Distribution
Left Right
| Candidate | 1 |
|---|---|
|
|
27107 |
|
|
5455 |
|
|
4132 |
|
|
2860 |
|
|
731 |
|
|
348 |
Social Democratic and Labour Party
Councillor Tim Attwood has been a political activist in the SDLP for 25 years. He was elected to Belfast City Council in 1995 and is the leader of the SDLP Group, representing the Blackmountain DEA in West Belfast. He has served on many public bodies and is the Belfast Chair of the Forum for Cities in Transition which brings together protagonists from divided cities in the promotion of peace-making and reconciliation.
The Workers Party
Conor Campbell contested his first election in the West Belfast constituency in 2016. The main focus of his campaign is opposition to austerity policies. He is also calling for better mental health provision and more help for those dealing with the effects of drugs.
People Before Profit Alliance
Gerry Carroll was re-elected as an MLA for West Belfast earlier this year after topping the poll in this Sinn Fein stronghold in the 2016 Assembly election. A staunch socialist he has also represented the Black Mountain electoral area on Belfast City Council where he described himself as "a thorn in the side, disturber of the political peace". A long-time activist, he travelled to Edinburgh for the Make Poverty History protest, aged just 16. He studied politics at Ulster University and was president of the Students Union.
Alliance Party
Sorcha Eastwood is a former pupil of St Dominic's High School and graduate of UUJ. She has an HR management background, working previously for the NHS and now in the manufacturing sector. She is passionate about addressing youth unemployment and says she is a strong advocate for the urgent improvement our mental health services need.
Sinn Fein
Paul Maskey was elected as an abstentionist MP for West Belfast in the 2011 by-election, replacing party president Gerry Adams. He was re-elected again in the 2015 General Election. A republican activist, he was first elected to Belfast City Council in 2001 and remained on the council until 2009. In 2007 he was first elected to the Stormont Assembly for West Belfast and was re-elected in 2011 before vacating his Assembly seat the following year.
Democratic Unionist Party
A Belfast City Councillor since 1997, Frank McCoubrey has been Deputy Lord Mayor and High Sheriff of Belfast. He sits on the People and Communities Committee and is also on the board of Belfast Harbour Commissioners. Mr McCoubrey, who was formerly a member of the Ulster Democratic Party and then an independent councillor, joined the DUP in 2012. He's well known throughout the Greater Shankill area for his community work, particularly on housing and education issues.
