Alliance’s Sorcha Eastwood has made history in the UK general election by becoming the first woman and first non-unionist to win the Lagan Valley seat – the seat former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson held for 27 years.
In what was billed as a two-horse race between Ms Eastwood and DUP candidate Jonathan Buckley, the Alliance MLA romped home with 18,618 votes – winning by almost 3,000 votes.
She polled 18,618 votes to his 15,659.
Shortly before the 3.40am declaration at Craigavon count centre, she took a phone call from her husband, Dale, who is suffering from a rare blood cancer, and said: “yes, it’s true babe.”
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In her victory speech, she said the landmark result was the “start of a new dawn in Lagan Valley” and pledged it would be a “new chapter that we will all write together”.
She said it showed that “change is possible”.
“It’s a fantastic night for us but it’s also a fantastic night for the people of Lagan Valley,” she said. “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.”
The result comes a day after Jeffrey Donaldson appeared in Newry Magistrates’ Court, where a judge deemed there was sufficient evidence for him to stand trial on historic sex offences. Mr Donaldson denies the charges.
Conceding defeat, Mr Buckley cited the split within unionism but pledged that the DUP would “regroup” and retake the seat.
“For Lagan Valley, there is brighter days ahead, I can assure you for unionism,” he said.
“But it must deal with its internal divisions. We must spend less time throwing rocks at each other and looking to the broad picture of unionism to make Northern Ireland work.”
The Ulster Unionist Party’s Robbie Butler did not appear on the podium and left the count centre after privately conceding defeat. He polled 11,157 votes.
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