- author, Davey Wilson and Chris Andrews
- role, BBC News NI
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Sinn Féin is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, Parliament and Westminster.
The nationalist party, which has no seats in the House of Commons, won seven seats after Thursday’s UK general election – the same number as in 2019.
The group’s leader, Mary Lou McDonald, said it was time to “prepare together for a new future on our island.”
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) came out on top after a disappointing night for the party.
The DUP won eight seats in 2019 and is up for re-election in 2024 with five seats.
In Lagan Valley, Alliance’s Sorcha Eastwood won the seat that had been held since 1997 by former DUP leader Sir Geoffrey Donaldson.
Robin Swann of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) won in South Antrim, defeating Paul Girvan of the DUP.
Sinn Féin’s vote share increased by 4.2% compared to the general election five years ago.
The party also saw newcomers such as Dia Hughes and Cathal Mullaghan.
Pat Cullen, a former leader of the Royal College of Nursing who was a prominent figure in Britain’s recent health strikes, was elected by Sinn Féin in Fermanagh and South Tyrone.
Mr McDonald said Sinn Féin was “determined to have a constructive relationship with the New Labour government”.
She said the party expected the new prime minister to “protect the Good Friday Agreement that Labour worked so hard to deliver and ensure its political, legal and constitutional guarantees are respected”.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson, who retained his east Belfast seat, denied the result had strengthened support for Irish unity, saying “there is no increase in support for a border election”.
Mr Robinson acknowledged the outcome was not what the party had hoped for and called for “greater unity” among Unionists.
The Conservative Party lost 250 seats, while the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK gained seats.
‘Important issues’
The Northern Ireland First Minister and Deputy First Minister spoke by phone with Sir Keir on Friday evening.
First Minister Michelle O’Neill said they had “discussed a number of important issues, including the challenging budget situation.”
“We urged him that the UK Government must urgently put in place the right funding model to deliver the public services people deserve.”
Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said it had been a “really constructive discussion.”
“We also discussed the benefits of building a positive working relationship and strengthening cooperation between the Northern Ireland Government and the UK Government going forward,” she added.
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris, who also met Sir Keir, said the election of a Labour government could lead to a “major reset” in Anglo-Irish relations.
Mr Harris has accepted an invitation to meet the new prime minister at Downing Street on 17 July.
Analysis: Brendan Hughes, BBC News Northern Ireland Political Correspondent
Ian Paisley losing his North Antrim seat is a political upheaval that nobody saw coming.
For 54 years the seat has been in the control of a family synonymous with the Paisley name, and the DUP as a whole.
The pastorate has been held since 1970 by DUP founder Reverend Ian Paisley, who was succeeded by his son of the same name in 2010.
However, TUV leader Jim Allister will now represent North Antrim in the House of Commons.
The alliance with Reform UK is becoming uneasy after Reform UK leader Nigel Farage personally backed Paisley.
But TUV’s opposition to the DUP’s agreement to bring back Stormont appears to have prevailed, allowing Mr Allister to overturn the DUP’s majority in the party’s heartland.
It will be the sweetest victory for Mr Allister, who has been dismissed by the DUP as a “stuck unionist”.
Who was elected in Northern Ireland?
The first shock result of the night came in Lagan Valley, where Sorcha Eastwood became the constituency’s first female MP and first non-Union MP.
She defeated the DUP’s Jonathan Buckley, who ran in place of Sir Geoffrey, who has been accused of historical sexual offences but denies the charges.
Mr Eastwood expressed his delight at his victory, adding that the party’s result was a “major achievement”.
“I’m a Lagan Valley born and bred girl,” she added.
Mr Buckley said he lost his seat because of “boundary changes” and “fragile unionism”.
In North Antrim, in a major upset, the DUP’s Ian Paisley lost his North Antrim seat to Traditional Unionist (TUV) leader Jim Allister, who described the result as “shocking”.
The TUV, which is allied with Reform UK, has strongly criticised the party’s agreement to return the DUP to Northern Ireland’s coalition government.
The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) returned with two councillors, Colum Eastwood for Foyle and Claire Hanna for Belfast South and Mid-Down.
‘Strategic planning’
Robin Swann’s victory in South Antrim means the UUP will field an MP for the first time since 2017.
He resigned as Stormont’s health minister for the election, which party leader Doug Beattie described as a “strategic plan”.
North Down saw a resurgence of independent unionist voices in Westminster.
Former DUP leader Alex Easton defeated Alliance deputy leader Stephen Farry.
Others elected in Northern Ireland were:
- Sinn Féin’s Cathal Mullaghan was the first Member of Parliament elected for Northern Ireland. Mid Ulster
- DUP leader Gavin Robinson retained his seat. East Belfast Despite challenges from alliance leader Naomi Long
- Her colleague Sorcha Eastwood won in the Lagan Valley constituency, which has been held by the DUP for many years.
- The DUP’s Carla Lockhart, Sammy Wilson and Jim Shannon retained their seats. Upper Bang, East Antrim and Strangford Each
- The party’s Gregory Campbell was also retained. East Londonderry He won the seat, but only after a surprisingly close race against Sinn Féin’s Kathleen McGurk.
- Sinn Féin’s Alfraith Begley retained his seat. West Tyrone His party colleague Chris Hazzard SouthdownJohn Finucane North Belfast and Paul Muskie West Belfast. Dire Hughes also won for Sinn Féin. Newry and Armour, Replacing Mickey Brady, who decided not to run
- Former nurses union president Pat Cullen Fermanagh and South Tyrone Sinn Féin
- The SDLP’s Claire Hanna also retained her seat. South and mid-south Belfast Party leader Colum Eastwood Foil
A total of 136 candidates stood in Northern Ireland’s first general election since 2019.
The election will be run as a single-member district system, with voters placing an X in the box next to the candidate they want elected to the House of Representatives.
The number of registered voters in Northern Ireland is now 1,363,961, the highest number ever for a general election.
However, turnout was 57%, down 4.5% from 2019.