The pro-British Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has suffered a bruising set of election results in Northern Ireland, with the party suffering a seismic shock when Ian Paisley lost his seat in North Antrim.

On a difficult night for the unionist party, the cross-community Alliance Party’s Sorcha Eastwood also had a historic result as she triumphed in the DUP stronghold of Lagan Valley.

Party leader Jeffrey Donaldson formerly held the seat.

The Paisley family has held the North Antrim seat for over 50 years.

But the legacy has ended with the victory of the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) leader Jim Allister in the unionist heartland.

“There is no escaping the fact that there has been a political earthquake in North Antrim of seismic proportions. Today, we mark an occasion when, after 54 years of DUP and Ian Paisley dynasty, North Antrim has taken an alternative course,’’ Mr Allister said.

One bright spot in a disappointing night for the DUP was when its leader, Gavin Robinson, held off the challenge of Alliance Party leader Naomi Long in East Belfast.

In the last result of the night, veteran DUP representative Gregory Campbell held on to his East Londonderry seat by just 179 votes, having seen his previous majority of almost 10,000 slashed.

With all 18 constituencies declared, Sinn Féin has been confirmed as the largest party in a Westminster election for the first time after holding all of its seven seats.

The DUP emerged with five, down three in 2019.

(dpa/NAN)