North Belfast was one constituency to keep an eye on coming into this election cycle and it didn't disappoint.
Sinn Féin proved the dominant party in this area, with Gerry Kelly topping the poll with 8,395 votes and Carál Ní Chuilín with 7,932 first preferences.
The SDLP's Nichola Mallon lost the seat she had held since 2016, securing only 3,604 first preference votes.
Read more: North Belfast Assembly election 2022 - Candidates and constituency history
As a result of an Alliance surge sweeping throughout Northern Ireland, the party made a gain in the constituency with Nuala McAllister securing 4,381 first preference votes.
The party were hoping to gain an MLA in the constituency after Ms McAllister ended the count in 2017 just 556 votes behind Sinn Féin's Carál Ní Chuilín.
Ms McAllister secured her seat at the expense of the SDLP's Nichola Mallon and increased Alliance's vote-share in North Belfast from 8.4% in 2017 to 9.5% this time.
The DUP were going into this election with two relatively safe seats, with both candidates deemed elected after Philip Brett won a seat in the tenth round of voting, with Brian Kingston following.
Green Party deputy leader, Mal O'Hara, increased his first-preference vote share from 1.7% in 2017 to 3.1% in 2022, but still missed out on clinching one of five seats in the constituency.
Ulster Unionist Julie-Anne Corr-Johnston was able to increase the party's first preference votes in the constituency from 2,418 in 2017 to 2,643 this time.
However, in her first election for the party, Ms Corr-Johnston missed out on securing a seat.
Turnout was slightly down this year compared to the last Assembly election in 2017, where 61.8% of eligible voters cast their vote.
This time turnout reached 61.74%, with 46,796 voters in the constituency casting a vote out of an eligible electorate of 75,801.
MLAs elected:
- Philip Brett (DUP)
- Brian Kingston (DUP)
- Gerry Kelly (Sinn Féin)
- Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin)
- Nuala McAllister (Alliance)
Read more: Political leaders cast ballots in Northern Ireland Assembly election
Read more: NI election results 2022: What happens if Sinn Fein wins Assembly poll?
To get the latest political news and analysis to your inbox, sign up to our free Party Lines newsletter
