Sinn Féin became the largest Northern Ireland party in the House of Commons for the first time, following similar success in the
2022 Assembly election and
2023 local election. Sinn Féin defended their seven seats with an increased majority in each,
South Down,
Belfast North and especially
Fermanagh and South Tyrone are less marginal than they were in
2019. Sinn Féin also came very close to gaining
East Londonderry, Kathleen McGurk was the runner-up just 179 votes behind the DUP. Sinn Féin also narrowed the SDLP's majority in
Foyle. The
DUP won five seats, three less than in
2019, this was the lowest number of DUP MPs since
2001 and since the DUP became the largest unionist party. The DUP lost
Lagan Valley to Alliance,
South Antrim to the UUP and
North Antrim to the TUV. The loss of North Antrim by just 450 votes is particularly notable, the DUP had held this seat for its entire existence, and between them
Ian Paisley and
Ian Paisley Jr had represented this constituency for 54 years since 1970. The majorities of
Sammy Wilson in
East Antrim and especially
Gregory Campbell in
East Londonderry, were significantly reduced, both were narrowly held against challenges from Alliance by 1,306 votes and Sinn Féin by 179 votes respectively. A more positive result for the DUP was the re-election of new leader
Gavin Robinson in
Belfast East with a slightly increased majority, the DUP also held
Strangford and
Upper Bann. The
SDLP held their two seats. In
Foyle SDLP leader
Colum Eastwood's majority was reduced from 17,110 to 4,166, mainly due to lower turnout although there was a swing to Sinn Féin.
Claire Hanna was also re-elected to the new
Belfast South and Mid Down constituency with a slightly reduced majority of 12,506, this is now the fifth safest seat in Northern Ireland after Sinn Féin's four safest seats. Outside of these two constituencies the SDLP vote mainly decreased, with
Belfast West a notable exception. The SDLP was the runner-up in
South Down and
Newry and Armagh, both were previously SDLP held seats but are increasingly safe for Sinn Féin.
Alliance remains the third largest party in Northern Ireland in terms of vote share, as it was in the
2022 Assembly election and
2023 local election. Alliance gained
Lagan Valley from the DUP, with
Sorcha Eastwood becoming the third directly elected Alliance MP. Alliance also lost
North Down, with independent unionist
Alex Easton gaining from Alliance deputy leader
Stephen Farry, the party leader
Naomi Long also lost in
Belfast East, Long was the previous MP for Belfast East from 2010 to 2015. Alliance came a particularly close second in
East Antrim, and was also runner-up in
Strangford and in
Belfast South and Mid Down for the first time since 1987. In other constituencies the Alliance vote was generally down slightly from their peak in
2019, but higher than any previous elections. The
UUP gained a seat in the House of Commons for the first time since
2015, with the election of
Robin Swann in
South Antrim, Swann achieved the highest majority in South Antrim since 1997 (7,512). The UUP was runner-up in one other constituency,
Fermanagh and South Tyrone, which the party had last won in
2015, although Diana Armstrong was the sole unionist candidate the increase in the Sinn Féin vote ensured the seat remained a Sinn Féin hold. As with Alliance, the UUP's second best prospect in this election was
East Antrim, fewer than 2,000 votes separated the top three candidates. The
TUV gained a seat in the House of Commons for the first time, with
Jim Allister gaining
North Antrim from the DUP by 450 votes. Beyond North Antrim the TUV's strongest constituencies were
East Londonderry,
East Antrim and
Strangford. The other MP elected in Northern Ireland was independent unionist
Alex Easton in
North Down who gained the seat from Alliance, Easton left the DUP in 2021 and he is the fourth North Down MP to have been elected either as an independent or with a smaller unionist party after leaving the DUP or UUP. ==See also==