EAST Antrim saw the Alliance surge repeated in other constituencies but it was not enough to hold off the DUP's Sammy Wilson.
The veteran DUP politician comfortably held the seat he first won in 2005, albeit with a much reduced majority.
As one of his party's most prominent figures, the leading Brexiteer was widely tipped to retain his seat in a constituency which overwhelmingly voted Leave in the 2016 European referendum.
But he was pushed close by the Alliance's Danny Donnelly who increased his party's vote by 11.68 per cent.
It was an impressive showing for the Mid and East Antrim councillor in his first general election.
Given that Mr Wilson's vote dropped by around 12 per cent, it seemed likely that DUP voters left the party in favour of the Alliance.
However, the Ulster Unionists failed to capitalise on a weakened DUP.
It was relatively poor performance for new Ulster Unionist leader Steve Aiken.
The former submarine commander did manage to slightly increase the UUP's vote share in the constituency.
But he would have expected to pick up more votes from DUP supporters disillusioned by the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scandal and the continuing impasse at Stormont.
The party's unclear position on Brexit - initially backing a Remain vote, then saying the Leave result should be respected, then saying remaining in the EU would be better than Boris Johnson's deal - may have confused voters.
The results in Britain showed that voters punished parties who had an inconsistent stance on Brexit.
During his victory speech, a bullish Mr Wilson praised his party's MLAs for continuing to work for constituents "despite the fact that Sinn Féin keep them out of the assembly".
He pledged that the DUP "will do our best to restore the assembly so that decisions can be made and if Sinn Féin's intransigence in locking the doors of Stormont to stop good things happening for Northern Ireland continues then we say to the British government either bring in direct rule or change the rules to keep the shirkers out and the workers in".
Sinn Féin's Oliver McMullan, a former East Antrim MLA, saw his vote share drop in the predominantly unionist constituency.
While few are predicting an imminent assembly election, political analysts have predicted the once overwhelmingly unionist seat could see the Alliance return two MLAs if the party's resurgence continues.
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CANDIDATE VOTE % CHANGE SINCE 2017
Sammy Wilson (DUP) 16,871 (45.3%) -12.1%
Danny Donnelly (Alliance) 10,165 (27.3%) +11.7%
Steve Aiken (UUP) 5,475 (14.7%) +2.8%
Oliver McMullan (SF) 2,120 (5.7%) -3.6%
Aaron Rankin (C) 1,043 (2.8%) +0.3%
Angela Mulholland (SDLP) 902 (2.4%) -0.9%
Philip Randle (Green) 685 (1.8%) + 1.8%
Electorate 64,830
Turnout 57.5% (-3.2%)
Majority 6,706
