Kelly McBride's decision to stand in a parliamentary by-election in London was a bold move which has paid off.
Her aim was to bring the campaign to have her brother's killers dismissed from the British army to the heart of political debate in Britain.
She achieved 189 votes after a week of canvassing in the constituency. This was a creditable showing which put her ahead of eight other candidates in Thursday's election.
However, the real point of her foray into the world of politics was to raise awareness about her brother's case.
The full details of the murder of 18-year-old Peter McBride and the controversial decision to allow his killers to rejoin the army following their release have been well publicised in Northern Ireland.
However, the vast majority of people in Britain remain unaware of the indefensible and perverse decision to allow convicted murderers Mark Wright and James Fisher to remain in the army.
The McBride family have pursued their campaign to have the soldiers discharged with considerable determination.
Kelly McBride has pushed that campaign forward in a positive and imaginative way and won the support of a range of people, including the new Liberal Democrat MP for Brent East, Sarah Teather, who said she would raise the issue in the House of Commons.
The McBride family have an unanswerable case and deserve to reach as wide an audience as possible.
The Court of Appeal has already ruled that Fisher and Wright should not have been allowed back into the army and their continuing presence cannot be justified in any circumstances.
