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The Democratic Unionist Party’s Westminster leader Nigel Dodds has lost his North Belfast seat to Sinn Féin’s John Finucane.
Mr Finucane’s majority was 1,943 votes and it is the first time a nationalist has ever held the constituency.
Earlier, Stephen Farry of the Alliance Party won North Down, the first seat declared in Northern Ireland.
Mr Farry, deputy leader of the party, defeated Alex Easton of the DUP by just under 3,000 votes.
The SDLP is confident of taking the marginal constituency of Foyle from Sinn Féin
A punishing night for the DUP
Mr Dodds’ defeat in North Belfast, a seat he had held since 2001, was the highest-profile indicator of a bad night at the polls for the DUP.
The party’s deputy leader – a high-profile supporter of Brexit – will not be returning to Westminster.
The DUP also had high hopes of winning North Down for the first time, but the seat elected its first ever non-unionist MP with Mr Farry’s victory.
Later, Emma Little-Pengelly’s loss to the SDLP in South Belfast capped a disappointing night for the party.
Ms Little-Pengelly had won the seat from the SDLP two years ago by 1,996 votes but Claire Hanna took it off her this time around with a big swing and a majority of 15,401.
The DUP propped up a minority Conservative government after the 2017 general election but has not been rewarded by voters.
DUP leader Arlene Foster told the BBC Mr Dodds’ defeat was down to a “pan-nationalist front” after the SDLP opted to stand aside in the constituency.
There was better news for the party in East Londonderry, Strangford, East Antrim, East Belfast and South Antrim where its candidates were all re-elected.
The graph below shows the vote share change in North Belfast. If you can’t see it click here.
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A mixed picture for Sinn Féin
John Finucane’s victory was a high point for the party but there was a mixed picture elsewhere.
The BBC understands the SDLP is set to win Foyle, which it lost to Sinn Féin in 2017, while Sinn Féin’s majorities in South Down and West Belfast were cut.
Elsewhere Órfhlaith Begley and Francie Molloy were re-elected for West Tyrone and Mid Ulster respectively.
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PAcemaker
John Finucane was cheered on by his leader Mary Lou McDonald (right) and deputy leader Michelle O’Neill (right).
Party president Mary Lou McDonald said she was confident Sinn Féin would compete to win Foyle again in the future.
Mr Finucane is Lord Mayor of Belfast and his father, Pat, was a solicitor who was murdered by loyalist paramilitaries in 1989.
He said: “We have taken the opportunity to say North Belfast rejects Brexit, North Belfast is a remain constituency and wants a future as part of the European Union.”
More good news for Alliance
Alliance had a strong performance earlier in 2019 at the local council elections in Northern Ireland and then at the European Parliamentary elections when it won a seat for the first time.
The party last won a Westminster seat in 2010 before losing it again five years later, but it will once again have representation in the House of Commons after Mr Farry’s victory.
He won 18,358 votes to Mr Easton’s 15,390 to take the seat formerly held by independent MP Lady Hermon.
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PAcemaker
Stephen Farry is a former Stormont minister
North Down was represented by Lady Hermon from 2001 until she stepped down this year.
In his victory speech, Mr Farry said that “voters had sent out a clear message that North Down wanted to remain [in the EU]”.
He said there was no such thing as a good or sensible Brexit and that “all forms of Brexit are damaging for Britain”.
Mr Farry added that Northern Ireland still stands up for Remain and if the prime minister was determined to push ahead with a hard Brexit that would have “massive implications”.
Elsewhere while the party is unlikely to win any other seats, it has seen its vote share increase and it is predicted to come second in the DUP safe seat of Lagan Valley.
The wider picture
The UK-wide exit poll released at 22:00 GMT suggests a large majority for the Conservative Party with more than 360 seats.
Some 102 candidates are competing for the 18 Westminster seats allocated to Northern Ireland.
A total of 1,293,971 people were eligible to vote at 1,300 polling stations in Northern Ireland – up by 51,000 from the last general election.
An exit poll is not conducted in Northern Ireland.
This time around there are fewer count centres – just four across Northern Ireland in Belfast, Magherafelt, Omagh and Bangor.
You can use the feature below to search for your constituency and see results. If you can’t see it click here.
Find a constituency
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If the exit poll results are borne out the Conservative Party will not require the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to help it achieve a working majority.
But the party’s Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson said as Mr Johnson sought a trade deal with the EU there would still be opportunities for the DUP to influence proceedings.
Sinn Féin’s Alex Maskey said if the exit poll proved accurate it would take the “dead hand” of the Tory-DUP relationship away from the political process in Northern Ireland.
He predicted it would make it more likely that the DUP would do a deal with his party to restore devolved government.
The power-sharing executive at Stormont collapsed in January 2017 after a bitter row between the DUP and Sinn Féin over a flawed green energy scheme.
Fresh talks aimed at restoring the executive are due to start on Monday.
Meanwhile Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Steve Aiken said if the exit poll is correct Northern Ireland was in for a “world of hurt” with Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal.
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Steven McAuley/McAuley Multimedia
Votes ahoy – a ballot box from Rathlin Island arriving in Ballycastle harbour
How can I follow the results?
- BBC News NI is covering the latest election results, with news analysis on our website, mobile app and on Facebook and Twitter throughout the night, from 21:45
- Television coverage began on BBC One Northern Ireland at 21:55
- There is also a special overnight election programme on BBC Radio Ulster from 21:55 that will run through the night, and Good Morning Ulster will have further reaction and analysis of the results