Who are Northern Ireland's seven new MPs?

TUV leader Jim Allister's unseating of the DUP's Ian Paisley was one of the biggest political upsets

With all 18 constituencies in Northern Ireland now declared, voters know who their MP will be for at least the next few years.

In seven seats, constituents have a new MP, in some cases for the first time in many years.

So who are the new additions to Northern Ireland's parliamentary line-up?

Jim Allister

In one of the biggest political upsets of the election in Northern Ireland, Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) leader Jim Allister took the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) stronghold seat of North Antrim from Ian Paisley.

He won by 450 votes, polling 11,642 to Mr Paisley’s 11,192. The result has ended the Paisley family’s reign in the constituency – between them the outgoing MP and his father, DUP co-founder Rev Ian Paisley, had held the seat since 1970.

Mr Allister, a barrister, is a former member of the DUP but quit the party over its decision to share power at Stormont with Sinn Féin in 2007, going on to establish the TUV.

He is a former member of the European Parliament and has been his party’s only representative in the Stormont Assembly.

Mr Allister was a supporter of Brexit but has been highly critical of the Northern Ireland Protocol and Windsor Framework, which he says threaten the constitutional position of NI within the United Kingdom.

He said his election was a "new starting point" for North Antrim, and that he would oppose Northern Ireland's post-Brexit trading arrangements in the House of Commons.

Pat Cullen

Previously always a close fight, Fermanagh and South Tyrone was captured by Sinn Féin for the third time in a row, this time by a majority of more than 4,000 votes.

But the party has a new MP in the constituency after Michelle Gildernew stood down.

Its representative is former Royal College of Nursing (RCN) general secretary Pat Cullen.

She grew up in County Tyrone and qualified as a nurse in 1985, becoming boss of the RCN in 2021.

Her profile grew across the UK during strike action by the union.

During an often dull election campaign in Northen Ireland she was at the centre of one of the more controversial moments, when she refused to condemn IRA attacks including the 1987 Enniskillen bombing in her new constituency, which killed 12 people.

But it has not harmed her at the ballot box, with Sinn Féin’s share of the vote in the constituency up by 6.1%.

Alex Easton

Independent unionist Alex Easton took the North Down constituency from Alliance, unseating the party's deputy leader, Stephen Farry.

He received 20,913 votes, with Mr Farry polling in second place, on 13,608 votes.

A DUP candidate in 2015, 2017 and the 2019 elections, 55-year-old Mr Easton quit the party in 2021 and has remained an independent assembly member at Stormont ever since.

Although he ran as an independent unionist in this election, he was endorsed by the DUP and the TUV, neither of which fielded candidates in North Down, in the hopes of boosting the chances of unionist victory.

Mr Easton paid tribute to his parents, Alec and Ann Easton, who died after a blaze at their home in Bangor, County Down, last year.

Sorcha Eastwood

One of the most high-profile battles of this election campaign has ended in victory for the Alliance Party's Sorcha Eastwood.

A sizeable number of voters in the constituency have never known anything other than Sir Jeffrey Donaldson as the seat's MP.

The former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader did not stand in this election after quitting the party while he contests alleged historic sex offences.

It is the first time the seat has been held by a woman and by an MP who is not a unionist.

First elected as a councillor in 2019, Ms Eastwood entered the Northern Ireland Assembly in the Alliance surge of 2022 and is a member of Stormont’s economy committee.

Since 2023 her husband, Dale, has been having treatment for a rare form of blood cancer and she has spoken about the impact it has had on her family.

Before elected politics she worked in retail and was then an adviser to Alliance deputy leader Stephen Farry.

Dáire Hughes

Not only is Dáire Hughes a fresh face as an MP for Newry and Armagh, it is the 34-year-old's first electoral victory.

Taking on a seat held by his party colleague Mickey Brady since 2015, Mr Hughes won with a majority of more than 15,000.

He did serve briefly as a councillor - being co-opted rather than winning the seat - and was the last person to serve as mayor of the old Newry and Mourne council.

He has worked for Sinn Féin and is the party's deputy general secretary.

Cathal Mallaghan

Mid Ulster has been a Sinn Féin seat since 1997 and it was no surprise when the party won it again this time around.

Constituents will have to get used to a new MP though, after Francie Molloy stood down after 11 years.

His party colleague Cathal Mallaghan has taken his place.

Mr Mallaghan has served as a councillor since 2011 and has been chairman of Mid Ulster District Council.

He has also served in a number of other roles including as a non-executive board member of the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service board and a member of the Northern Ireland Housing Council.

Robin Swann

The former UUP leader is a familiar face to many but it is due to his roles at Stormont rather than at Westminster, to which he has been elected for the first time.

Robin Swann has been an assembly member since 2011 and served as leader of his party between 2017 and 2019.

But it was in his role as health minister during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic that his profile rocketed.

He became a familiar face at press conferences, setting out the spread of the virus and the restrictions introduced to tackle it.

His selection as the South Antrim candidate for the UUP was seen as a bold move to try to take the seat back from the DUP and it has paid off.