As Ulster Unionist Council members consider a successor to David Trimble, Dan McGinn, the Press Association's Ireland Political Editor, looks at the likely contenders.
Ulster Unionists were today contemplating life without David Trimble as leader. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who took the party into government with Sinn Fein three times, quit yesterday after losing his House of Commons seat.
In a traumatic General Election, his party was left with just one MP as three other seats tumbled.
So who are the likely contenders?
SIR REG EMPEY:
A former deputy leader of the United Ulster Unionist Party, the 58-year-old is regarded as one of the party's best communicators. Some colleagues question whether he has the ruthless streak party leaders need, citing his failure to depose David Trimble in September 2003 after explorative talks with Jeffrey Donaldson as a major question mark.
Were he to emerge as leader, the UUP would have to find Sir Reg a new constituency, possibly South Belfast, if it is to get him into Westminster.
DAVID BURNSIDE:
However his attempt to cast himself as the UUP's most traditional unionist was not enough to persuade constituents to turn out in large numbers to return him to Westminster.
The public relations guru lost the seat by 3,448 votes to the DUP's Reverend William McCrea. The 53-year-old will nevertheless be the choice of some in the party who believe it must lurch to the right and out-unionist the DUP to survive.
The party leadership could strengthen him in the battle to reclaim South Antrim where he is an Assembly member. His comments about an alliance with the DUP will also intrigue those talking about a realignment of unionism and his call for a purge of UUP leadership figures involved in the election campaign may also be tempting.
LADY SYLVIA HERMON:
However the question begs whether the Ulster Unionist Council, a conservative body at the best of times, is ready to take the radical step of having a woman leader and a liberal.
The 49-year-old North Down MP sealed her liberal credentials by comfortably retaining her seat with a 4,944 majority over the DUP's Peter Weir. She did so with significant support from the cross community Alliance Party and would be expected to steer the UUP towards the middle ground.
Some strategists believe the party needs to excite "garden centre unionists" who voted for the Belfsat Agreement but stayed away from the polls in subsequent elections. Such an approach would, however, face vigorous opposition from a sizeable section of the UUP who believe the party's flirtation with liberalism under David Trimble has brought it to its knees.
LORD KILCLONEY:
But in the years after the Belfast Agreement, the wily Ulster Unionist war-horse played the role of kingmaker in the series of draining battles between David Trimble and Jeffrey Donaldson over party policy.
A veteran of the Stormont executive, he comes with bags of experience, having served at all levels in the party in local government, several Assemblies, the House of Commons and the European Parliament. However the 67-year-old currently has no Assembly seat and the question remains: is he willing to take over a party which some unionists believe has had its day?
If the Ulster Unionists are looking for a caretaker leader, the former Strangford MP could be their man. In 1995, when David Trimble captured the leadership, the politician formerly known as John Taylor was the favourite to succeed Lord (Jim) Molyneaux. The last Ulster Unionist MP standing after Friday's General Election bloodbath was an obvious choice for some to lead the party. One of the four casualties of the General Election, the former South Antrim MP spent the last four years in the House of Commons distancing himself from David Trimble. In an election where candidate after candidate for the UUP saw a significant drop in their votes, the former Stormont Economy Minister managed to recover some ground from 2001. However he still lagged 5,877 votes behind the DUP's deputy leader Peter Robinson.