In jeans and trainers, People Before Profit's Gerry Carroll stood out amidst a sea of suited and booted politicians. Indeed, he could have passed for a Sinn Féin candidate from decades ago.
Gerry's modest dress belied a first-class performance which saw him increase support three-fold to a stunning 7,000 votes, twice as many as the SDLP's Alex Attwood.
Gerry campaigned on both sides of the sectarian divide and he'll surely take an Assembly seat next year.
Paul Maskey's podium patter stood in stark contrast to Gerry's fire in the belly speech: "People have had enough. This is the beginning of the West Belfast rising".
The Shinners will be far more worried about this threat, from the radical left in the heart of their power base, than they ever were about Attwood.
Alasdair McDonnell's 'bull in search of a china shop' persona is well known.
So, unlike other newly elected MPs' acceptance speeches, his was scripted.
Yet despite his old-fashioned campaigning style, he won.
And really, how great were his two male rivals, Sinn Féin's Mairtin O'Mueillior and the DUP's Jonathan Bell? "All selfie and no substance!" an SDLP strategist quipped.
For me, McDonnell's opposition to abortion in cases of fatal foetal abnormality is shocking, and there's much I disagree with him on.
But it still must be said that he, and his lovely wife Olivia, have survived a very tough campaign. And, for that, they deserve credit.
