TUV leader Jim Allister has described his de-throning of Ian Paisley as a ‘political earthquake’.
In North Antrim, Paisley Jr had a majority of over 13,000 in the 2019 election, however, 450 votes was all it took for the party to seize control with Jim Allister receiving 11,642 votes to the DUP veteran’s 11,192.
Held by a unionist since its creation, Ian Paisley Jr took over the seat from his father meaning it has been in the family for over 50 years.
However, it appears the TUV’s consistent anti-protocol stance has appealed to unionist voters upset by the DUPs implementation of the Windsor Framework.
Mr Allister campaigned under his party name with the added line ‘No Sea Border’.
The North Antrim MLA was standing in the election for the first time since 2010.
Speaking after the declaration in the early hours of Friday, Mr Allister said: “There is no escaping the fact that there has been a political earthquake in North Antrim of seismic proportion.
“Today we mark an occasion when after 54 years of DUP and Ian Paisley dynasty North Antrim has taken an alternative course. That is an alternative course which signals a number of things.
“Amongst those is a very clear indication unionists of North Antrim will not be taken for granted, and certainly will not be taken for fools. Because the DUP just a few weeks ago sought to hoodwink every unionist in this province when they pretended the dud Donaldson deal had got rid of the Irish sea border and restored our place in the United Kingdom.
“The people of North Antrim called them out as such in this campaign and there in is the reason why I am not the member of parliament for North Antrim.”
Ian Paisley Jr conceded that the ‘tides of life ebb and flow’ and admitted it was not the script he had prepared.
“Life is made up of many chapters and I embrace the next chapter as happily as I have embraced the previous chapters,” he said.
“Being a member of parliament is a huge privilege. It has been a huge privilege to me for over 14 years and a previous 13 years in the Assembly to serve my constituency and I greatly support they have given me.
“I congratulate the successor and commend all of those who took part in this race.”
Philip McGuigan of Sinn Fein came third with 7,714 votes, while Alliance candidate Sian Mulholland received 4,488.
UUP Jackson Minford came in fifth with 3,901 votes.
Like many other constituencies North Antrim experienced a drop in voters. 74,697 people were eligible to vote in the constituency. However, 41,185 valid votes were case with a turn out of 55.37% down from 57.1% in 2019.
