Sinn Féin’s John Finucane is running for a second term in North Belfast after narrowly defeating the DUP’s Nigel Dodds and securing the only gain for the party in 2019.
Finucane won with a vote share of 47.1% and a majority of 1,943 over Dodds, who had held the seat since 2001 with a small majority.
Hoping to regain the seat, the DUP is running a new face in the constituency.
Phillip Brett was elected to Stormont in 2022, having previously served on the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council. He also ran Dodd’s unsuccessful Westminster campaign five years ago.
Brett will be facing no competition from the UUP but will be standing against the TUV, and will be contending with the effect of boundary changes.
The TUV is running David Clarke, a former DUP councillor who quit the party in January over allegations of bullying.
Following a pact with Reform UK, the party is running in a total of 14 constituencies this year, leading to fears that the unionist vote could split in key constituencies.
Another challenge facing the DUP is boundary changes which have resulted in a loss of 950 votes, with areas like the Shankill and Woodvale moving to the west Belfast constituency.
Alliance’s Nuala McAllister will also be running again after securing 9.8% of votes during the last Westminster election.
The party has been growing its vote share in the constituency, securing only 4.9% of votes in 2010.
Neither the SDLP or the Greens ran last time, but are both running this time.
Party leader Mal O’Hara, who lost his Belfast City Council seat in last year’s local election, will be representing the Greens, while councillor Carl Whyte will be on the ballot for the SDLP.
Both parties will be looking to make up ground lost over the longer term in Belfast North.
Fiona Ferguson is also running for People Before Profit after also losing her council seat last year.
