This is Michelle O’Neill’s home patch, so as expected, it is a solid Sinn Féin area where they hold three of the five Stormont Assembly seats.
The Westminster seat for the Mid Ulster constituency has been in the party’s hands since 2013 and has been held by veteran republican Francie Molloy for that time.
The 73-year-old was one of their longest serving elected representatives having been elected in various roles since the 1980s.
He is stepping down and the mantle has been passed to Cathal Mallaghan, an experienced Cookstown Councillor, who is the director of an agricultural company.
He is defending a Sinn Féin majority of 9,500 coming into this election.
His closest rival will be the DUP candidate Keith Buchanan, an MLA, who has contested this seat several times before.
The SDLP has polled third in this constituency in recent Westminster contests.
Mr Buchanan faces a squeeze on his vote from rival unionist Glenn Moore of the Traditional Unionist Voice.
Whether that will be enough to allow the SDLP to leapfrog the DUP into second place remains to be seen.
Again, boundary changes are expected to have a minimal impact.
2019 Election
Valid Vote – 44,620
Turnout – 63.83%
Sinn Féin – 20,473
DUP – 10,936
SDLP – 6,384
Alliance Party – 3,526
UUP – 2,611
Independent – 690
2024 Candidates
Jay Basra – UUP
Keith Buchanan – DUP
Padraic Farrell – Alliance Party
Alixandra Halliday – Aontú
Denise Johnston – SDLP
John Kelly – Independent
Cathal Mallaghan – Sinn Féin
Glenn Moore – TUV
