First Minister Robinson suffers shock defeat with huge swing

The MP, whose wife Iris quit in disgrace as MP for Strangford after admitting to an affair, was beaten by the Alliance Party's Naomi Long, the lord mayor of Belfast, to leave Democratic Unionist Party supporters gasping in disbelief.

Mr Robinson's support was expected to dip because of his involvement in a controversial land deal, but nobody – not even in the Alliance Party –expected this result which represented an unbelievable 22.9 per cent swing.

The defeat was a stunning setback for Mr Robinson who had held the seat since 1979.

It was confirmed just minutes after his colleague Ian Paisley Jnr took over from his father as MP for North Antrim.

His big and bitter rival Jim Allister of Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) had been expected to mount a major challenge because of his opposition to Unionists sitting with Sinn Fein in the powersharing government at Stormont.

But he trailed in a poor second, more than 12,500 votes behind Mr Paisley who was favourite to win, but not by such a massive majority. His father, the Rev. Ian Paisley, held the seat for 40 years

It was neck and neck in Fermanagh/South Tyrone where Sinn Fein's Michelle Gildernew faced huge challenge from Independent Unionist Rodney Connor. The turn- out was in the high 70s.

Earlier this year the Northern Ireland Assembly was thrown into crisis with a decision by the scandal-hit First Minister to temporarily step down from the post to clear his name.