| Electorate | Seats | Total Poll | Turnout | Valid Poll | Spoiled Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75,346 | 1 | 40,003 | 53.09% | 39,743 | 260 |
Vote Distribution
Left Right
| Candidate | 1 |
|---|---|
|
|
21009 |
|
|
5048 |
|
|
4318 |
|
|
4304 |
|
|
2010 |
|
|
1077 |
|
|
904 |
|
|
461 |
|
|
451 |
|
|
161 |
People Before Profit
An MLA for West Belfast since 2016, Gerry Carroll previously 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". He has contested the last four General Elections in West Belfast, twice finishing as runner-up and twice finishing third. A long-time socialist activist, he studied politics at Ulster University and was president of the Students' Union.
Social Democratic and Labour Party
Paul Doherty is a Belfast City councillor for the Black Mountain DEA, having been elected last year. He runs Foodstock, a community solidarity hub in Andersonstown, and is the organiser of the Foodstock Festival. Mr Doherty previously worked in the Royal Victoria Hospital for 14 years and ran in the 2019 General Election in West Belfast, where he finished fourth. In his spare time, Mr Doherty is a singer-songwriter with Belfast band The Vals.
Aontú
A west Belfast native, Gerard Herdman is a plumbing tutor who previously stood for election in the 2022 Assembly election and 2023 local election.
Green Party
Ash Jones is a transgender activist, who ran in the council election last year in the Collin DEA. She is the Green Party (NI)'s first ever Westminster candidate in West Belfast and says she wants to be a "radical voice" to "fight for justice and equal rights" in Parliament.
Independent
Tony Mallon is party leader of NI People, which has links to four Independent candidates across Northern Ireland. He also ran as an Independent in the 2022 Assembly election and last year's council election. During the current campaign, he said he is deliberately antagonistic on social media "to get noticed".
Sinn Fein
Paul Maskey has been the abstentionist MP for West Belfast since the 2011 by-election, replacing then-party president Gerry Adams. He has been successfully re-elected in three subsequent General Elections. In all four elections, he has commanded over 50% of the vote and his smallest majority in that time was over 12,000 votes in 2015. 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 and was re-elected in 2011 before vacating his Assembly seat the following year.
Traditional Unionist Voice
A resident of Mount Vernon, Ann McClure is the general secretary of the TUV and ran in last year's council election. She is a member of Rehoboth Evangelical Mission church.
Democratic Unionist Party
Frank McCoubrey has been a Belfast City councillor since his initial election in 1997. He first won his seat as a candidate for the Ulster Democratic Party, but became an Independent in 2001 before joining the DUP in 2012. He has been elected to council a total of seven times, topping the poll in the Court DEA on the last two occasions. In 2000, he was elected as Deputy Mayor and in 2008 he held the post of High Sheriff of Belfast. In 2020, he was appointed Lord Mayor of the city. He has previously stood in both General and Assembly elections.
Alliance Party
A second year student in Law with Politics and International Studies at Ulster University, Mr Millar also works as a Casework and Communications Officer for his party's North Down MLA and Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Andrew Muir. He stood in last year's council election in the Collin DEA.
Ulster Unionist Party
Ben Sharkey served as the chair of his party's Young Unionists group in 2022 and 2023. After joining the Youth Parliament for Lagan Valley, he said he felt compelled to join the UUP’s youth wing because of its mental health policies. Mr Sharkey is a journalism graduate from Ulster University and has worked as a research assistant for an MLA.
