In Northern Ireland the UUP have only managed to hold one seat

David Trimble has been unseated in his Upper Bann constituency as the Ulster Unionists have experienced a near total meltdown in Northern Ireland.

The defeat is a huge blow to moderate unionism and confirms Ian Paisley as head of the unionist community in the province.

Trimble has become the first party leader to lose his Westminster seat since Ramsay Macdonald after the DUP overturned his 2,058-vote majority in Upper Bann.

The Nobel peace prize winner was instrumental in forging the 1998 Good Friday agreement, but the stalled peace process and consequent trend from moderate to more strident unionism fatally undermined his position.

DUP candidate David Simpson polled over five thousand more votes - securing 16,679 against Trimble's 11,381.

Trimble, who had led the UUP since 1995, now seems set for a seat in the House of Lords.

The former MP said he was proud of his 15-year record serving Upper Bann in the House of Commons and that he believed Northern Ireland was in a much stronger position due to the work of his party.

He also acknowledged it had been a successful election for the DUP. But he said: "The DUP will know that with success comes responsibility.

"I believe they have inherited from Ulster Unionism a very strong position for unionism and I hope they manage to safeguard that position over the course of the months to come."

A huge swing in East Antrim has also seen the DUP's Sammy Wilson unseat the UUP's Roy Beggs.

The DUP took the Lagan Valley seat from the Ulster Unionists - where defector Jeffrey Donaldson was flying the flag for the hardliners.

And the loss of the David Burnside's UUP seat in South Antrim leaves Sylvia Herman as the single Ulster Unionist in the Commons.

Sinn Fein push

Elsewhere, Gerry Adams has retained the West Belfast seat and Ian Paisley has held on to North Antrim.

The Sinn Fein leader put in a strong performance to hold onto West Belfast - although republican MPs refuse to take up their seats in parliament and swear allegiance to the queen.

Paisley, the DUP leader, secured his North Antrim seat, polling a huge 25,156 votes.

The UUP limped home in third, only managing 6,637 for their candidate Rodney McCune.

The DUP has also held North Belfast, East Belfast, East Londonderry and Strangford.

Sinn Fein has held on to the seats of Fermanagh and West Tyrone.

And the party have also gained Newry and Armargh from fellow Nationalists, the SDLP.

But Sinn Fein failed to capture their target seat of Foyle where the party's general secretary, Mitchel McLaughlin, was looking to take former nationalist SDLP leader John Hume's constituency.

The current SDLP leader Mark Durkan held on to the seat in a vital result for the party.

In South Belfast a split vote between the rival unionist parties cleared the path for the SDLP candidate Alasdair McDonnell to take the seat.

McDonnell polled 10,339 votes, just ahead of the DUP's Jimmy Spratt with 9,104. The UUP's Michael McGimpsey finished in third with 7,263.