THE push to clinch East Antrim is expected to be not so much a one-horse race as a gentle one-horse stroll for the DUP's Sammy Wilson.
While some constituencies, notably North Belfast and Fermanagh & South Tyrone, could be decided by a few dozen votes, no one predicts any great changes in East Antrim on December 12.
Mr Wilson has held the seat since 2005 and shows no signs of being deposed, not even by his closest rival, newly-appointed Ulster Unionist leader Steve Aiken.
The mainly urban constituency takes in the towns of Larne and Carrickfergus and commuter areas including Monkstown and Jordanstown. It also includes more rural areas including several of the Glens.
Known for landmarks including Carrickfergus Castle and the imposing Kilroot and Ballylumford power stations, the constituency is overwhelmingly unionist.
Unlike coal-fired Kilroot, which is due to be shut down by 2024 due to environmental concerns, Mr Wilson, a noted climate change denier, looks set to hold the seat until his eventual retirement.
While some traditionally DUP voters may be unhappy at a Brexit deal, which loyalists have branded the 'betrayal act', they are unlikely to defect to the Ulster Unionists.
Mr Aiken's relatively moderate stance on Brexit - insisting the north must either leave the EU under the same conditions as Britain or "remain as one" within the bloc - has won him some praise but is unlikely to be a huge vote-winner in the Leave-voting constituency.
Just over 55 per cent of voters in the constituency chose Leave in the 2016 European Union referendum - the third highest figure in Northern Ireland behind North Antrim and Strangford.
A former submarine commander, Mr Aiken threw his hat into the ring shortly after he was announced as the UUP's new leader.
However, his first general election as leader could prove embarrassing for the UUP in a seat it held for more than two decades between the constituency's re-creation in 1983 and Mr Wilson's win in 2005.
Mr Aiken (57), has closer links with the relatively more liberal South Antrim, where he was elected as an MLA in 2016. However, with former MP Danny Kinahan standing again in South Antrim, and arguably in with a good chance of taking the seat, it has been left to the UUP leader to battle Sammy Wilson.
Mr Wilson's awkward series of Facebook videos, including one which shows him trying to explain the Brexit deal while standing beside 'Vote Wilson' written on a dirty white van, smack of a man who already knows he has won.
In 2017, the veteran DUP politician saw his vote share increase by an impressive 21.2 per cent, far ahead of the Alliance's Stewart Dickson.
Mr Dickson's colleague Danny Donnelly is standing this time. He could gain votes from citizens aggrieved by the ongoing Brexit shambles and the impasse at Stormont.
Sinn Féin's Oliver McMullan and SDLP candidate Angela Mulholland are expected to pick up a few votes, particularly in areas of the Glens which fall into the constituency.
But Aaron Rankin from the Conservatives and Green candidate Philip Randle look set to be also-rans in a fairly straightforward race.
CANDIDATES
Steve Aiken (UUP)
Danny Donnelly (ALL)
Oliver McMullan (SF)
Angela Mulholland (SDLP)
Philip Randle (Greens)
Aaron Rankin (NI Cons)
Sammy Wilson (DUP)
2017 Share of Vote
DUP 57.3%
Alliance 15.6%
UUP 11.9%
Sinn Féin 9.3%
SDLP 3.4%
NI Conservatives 2.5%
Electorate: 63,608
Majority: 15,923
