DUP leader Gavin Robinson stopped a unionist wipe-out in Belfast by defending the East Belfast seat against a valiant challenge from Naomi Long.
The Alliance Party leader came up short as she tried to wrestle back the seat that she had previously won back in 2010, however, it was not to be with Robinson holding on by 2,676 votes.
With the DUP suffering loses throughout the night, losing their leader would have been a disaster for the party, but Robinson arrived at the count centre knowing that he had kept his challenger at bay.
The result was:
Séamas de Faoite (SDLP) 619
Naomi Long (Alliance) 17,218
Ryan North (Independent) 162
Gavin Robinson (DUP) 19,894
John Ross (TUV) 1,918
Brian Smyth (Green Party) 1,077
Ryan Warren (UUP) 1,818
Reflecting on a night which saw three DUP seats toppled, Mr Robinson said: "There will be much to say about this election in the hours and the days to come. But none of us, neither me nor my colleagues choose the circumstances in which we stood in this election. But none of us have lost hope in what it is that we stand for and that is to confidently and to proudly stand up for Northern Ireland in our United Kingdom.
A despondent Naomi Long with her husband Michael Long, right
"To never lose sight – even though there are those who would rather keep unionism on their knees – that we should stand up proudly and confidently for this place within our country.
"And today the news will be one dominated by the costs of divisions within unionism. It's not a new story. We saw it in the Assembly election, we saw the consequence of division within unionism two years ago and yet again we see it today."
Mr Robinson said that North Down, where unionist unity candidate Alex Easton defeated Alliance's Stephen Farry, was an example of unionists working together.
