THEY kept the best to last, Paul Maskey told his supporters as he was once again elected MP for West Belfast.
And while the West Belfast ballot boxes arrived first at the Titanic Exhibition Centre well before midnight, it was not until after half-five in the morning that the result was finally announced with Maskey increasing his vote from 2019.
Gerry Carroll (People Before Profit) 5,048
Paul Doherty (SDLP) 4,318
Gerard Herdman (Aontú) 904
Ash Jones (Green Party) 451
Tony Mallon (Independent) 161
Paul Maskey (Sinn Féin) 21,009
Ann McClure (TUV) 2,010
Frank McCoubrey (DUP) 4,304
Eoin Millar (Alliance) 1,077
Ben Sharkey (UUP) 461
With a lower turn-out, the Sinn Féin man's vote incredibly went up from 20,866 in 2019.
Taking a swipe at his political opponents, Paul Maskey said: "Over the years people have demonised West Belfast and political parties who stand in West Belfast criticise West Belfast. Well I stand up for West Belfast and I fight for West Belfast.
Paul Maskey checking the figures
"I would urge other people to join us to make sure that we continue to drive West Belfast forward in the best manner that we possibly can. I want to work with each and every single one of all the other parties and I want to continue to deliver, because our MLAs and our council team have delivered massively for West Belfast. I want that to continue.
"As West Belfast grows, I am delighted that the entirety of the Shankill is now in the West Belfast constituency and I am delighted Lisburn North is now in the West Belfast constituency, and I, as their MP will work day and night to make sure that we continue to progress and push West Belfast forward."
