“Wow,” was the response from the Independent Alex Easton – now the constituency’s MP - when the result was read out for the North Down constituency.
His was a convincing victory over the sitting MP, Alliance’s Stephen Farry, who failed to become the first MP from his party to retain his seat.
The expectation had been that it would be a close race; in the event, Easton took the seat by 7,300 votes.
A visibly emotional Easton dedicated his victory to his parents, Alec and Ann Easton, who died in a house fire at their home in Bangor in 2023.
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“In my darkest hours … there’s one person that always believed in me, that was my Dad, and I want to say to my Dad, and my Mum, I did this for you.”
The former DUP Assembly member had in effect been the party’s election candidate in the constituency; it chose not to run here, as did the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV).
The only unionist opposition was the Ulster Unionists’ (UUP) Colonel Tim Collins, who got off to a rocky start thanks to some poor media interviews, and was criticised for – among other things – not being based in the constituency and promising to buy a house there only if elected.
He made it a rocky end, too, with another of those interviews before midnight on Thursday, conceding that he had come in third place and ruling out running again in Northern Ireland, telling the BBC voters in North Down “are not interested in international affairs, they are interested in potholes and hedges.”
Mr Easton’s victory was singled out by the DUP leader Gavin Robinson amid a bruising night for the party as an example of “how unionists co-operating and working together can return victory.”
Mr Farry said it had been a “disappointing” night for him and his party would reflect on the result.
“I look back at the last five years with a lot of pride, we have achieved a lot of things, and I think it was very important that I stood by my vision and my values for North Down and indeed for Northern Ireland and further afield,” he said.
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