Arthur Beesley reports from Belfast:

A huge blow for the Democratic Unionists. Nigel Dodds, Westminster strongman of the party in bitter Brexit rows, has lost his Belfast North seat to John Finucane of Sinn Féin.

The DUP has also lost its Belfast South seat to Claire Hanna of the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour party, leaving it in the city holding only the unionist stronghold of Belfast East.

Such gains by the nationalist parties — and a win in north Down for the cross-community Alliance — could mean that unionist MPs do not hold the majority of Northern Ireland’s seats for the first time.

The DUP went into the election with 10 seats of the region’s 18 seats but is now on track to emerge with eight, a bruising result for the pro-Brexit party that rejected two EU withdrawal treaties settled by Boris Johnson and Theresa May. Analysts believe Sinn Féin could take seven seats — one less than in 2017 — with the SDLP likely to take two seats and Alliance one.

The SDLP stood aside in Belfast North to give Mr Finucane a clear run while Sinn Féin did not contest Belfast South to boost the SDLP.

Arlene Foster, leader of the DUP, hit out at the pact as she arrived at the count centre saying “the pan-nationalist front has come to fruition again.” Mrs Foster said she was “absolutely disappointed” with the loss of Mr Dodds’ seat, saying “the demography just wasn’t there” to retain the seat.

Mr Dodds was defending a 2,081-vote majority but Mr Finucane, who is lord mayor of Belfast, beat him by 1,943 votes. Mr Finucane said his election was a reflection of the constituency’s rejection of Brexit. “North Belfast is a remain constituency,” he said.

The new MP’s father, Pat Finucane, a lawyer who defended republicans, was murdered by pro-British loyalist paramilitaries in 1989. “I can’t help but think of my father and where we have come from, not just as a family but as a society as well,” Mr Finucane said.