Alliance claim historic win in DUP stronghold of Lagan Valley

The Alliance Party has triumphed in the DUP stronghold of Lagan Valley – the seat formerly held by ex-party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson.

The DUP could also be on the cusp of a seismic defeat in North Antrim, with Ian Paisley facing a shock loss to TUV leader Jim Allister.

Sorcha Eastwood defeated DUP candidate Jonathan Buckley in the high-profile contest in Lagan Valley.

However, Alliance looks set for defeat in its two other main targets – North Down and East Belfast.

DUP leader Gavin Robinson looks well placed to beat Alliance Party leader Naomi Long for the fourth successive election in East Belfast.

In North Down, the cross-community party’s deputy leader Stephen Farry has all but conceded to independent unionist Alex Easton.

Donaldson did not stand for re-election in Lagan Valley, having stepped down as leader in March when he was charged with historical sexual offences – charges he denies.

Reacting to her landmark victory, Ms Eastwood said: “It’s a fantastic night for us but it’s also a fantastic night for the people of Lagan Valley.”

She added: “I’m a Lagan Valley girl born and bred, and this has been in our heart for a long time and I’m just delighted.”

Ms Eastwood said it was a “huge” moment for the party, for her and her community.

In other early results in Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein retained its seats in Mid Ulster, North Belfast, Newry and Armagh and West Tyrone while the DUP held Upper Bann and East Antrim.

One race that few predicted would be tight was North Antrim but the DUP’s Mr Paisley is facing defeat at the hands of Mr Allister.

The UUP is increasingly hopeful former Stormont health minister Robin Swann can take a seat from the DUP in South Antrim.

Sinn Fein is confident it can hold off the UUP in the ever-close Fermanagh and South Tyrone count, where former RCN general secretary Pat Cullen stood for the republican party against Ulster Unionist councillor Diana Armstrong.

Asked if Sinn Fein was nervous about the result in the constituency, Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O’Neill said: “We’re feeling very confident that it has been a good poll from us across the board but it’s very early in the evening.”

Ms O’Neill added: “The politics of this election was very much about the politics here at home, about making the Executive and the Assembly work.”

All eyes are on the race for the greatest number of seats across Northern Ireland, with the potential of Sinn Fein cementing its position as the largest party in the region, having come out on top in the last Assembly and local council polls.

Such a result for the pro-Irish unity party would be bound to intensify the debate around the region’s constitutional future.

Sinn Fein, which ran a relatively low-key campaign, could secure first place by retaining the seven seats it already holds, if the DUP drops down from the eight seats it won in 2019.

The DUP is under significant pressure in a number of constituencies and could be in for a bruising night.

Mr Robinson’s elevation to the leadership of his party came after the DUP suffered a huge shock when former leader Donaldson quit.

Apart from the sudden departure of Donaldson from the political stage, the DUP has also been under fire from unionist rivals amid claims it oversold a Government package of measures on post-Brexit trading arrangements that the party used to justify the end of its two-year boycott on devolution at Stormont in January.

The Ulster Unionists were without an MP in the last parliament and the party was growing in optimism on Friday morning that it will pick up South Antrim.

Asked if he was on course for victory in South Antrim, Mr Swann said: “It seems to be heading that way.”

However, retired Army colonel Tim Collins, who ran for the UUP in North Down, blamed voters being more interested in “potholes and hedges” than international affairs after conceding defeat before the result was declared.

Success for the SDLP would be the retention of the two seats held in the last parliament by its leader, Colm Eastwood in Foyle, and deputy leader, Claire Hanna in South Belfast and Mid Down.

Ms Hanna said both are set for victory.

The TUV, which is an arch critic of the DUP’s decision to drop its protest boycott on devolution, did not stand in the last election.

The party suffered a blow last month when Reform UK leader Nigel Farage personally endorsed two DUP election candidates, despite his party having an official electoral alliance with the TUV in Northern Ireland.

That led to a highly unusual situation in TUV leader Mr Allister’s own North Antrim constituency, where he ran on a joint TUV-Reform UK platform, even though Mr Farage personally backed the DUP candidate in that area, Mr Paisley.

However, that does not appear to have derailed Mr Allister’s challenge and he has performed well above the expectations of many.