Sinn Féin becomes NI's largest Westminster party

The Alliance Party has secured a historic win in the seat previously held by former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson.

Sorcha Eastwood has become both Lagan Valley's first woman and first non-unionist MP.

She defeated the DUP's Jonathan Buckley, who was contesting the election instead of Sir Jeffrey after he was charged with historical sex offences.

Meanwhile, the DUP's Ian Paisley is set to lose his North Antrim seat to Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) leader Jim Allister, BBC News NI understands.

The Labour Party has won a landslide victory with Keir Starmer set to become the new prime minster.

In total, 14 of Northern Ireland's 18 seats have been declared so far.

Sorcha Eastwood said she was delighted, saying the party's result was a "huge achievement".

"I am a Lagan Valley girl born and bred," she added.

Mr Buckley said "boundary changes" and "divided unionism" lost him the seat.

Elsewhere, here's who have been elected in Northern Ireland:

• Sinn Féin's Cathal Mallaghan was the first MP elected in Northern Ireland, topping the poll in Mid Ulster
• The DUP's Carla Lockhart has held the seat she won five years ago in Upper Bann
• Her party leader Gavin Robinson retained his seat in Belfast East despite the challenge of Alliance leader Naomi Long
• Sinn Féin's Órfhlaith Begley retained her seat in West Tyrone as has her party colleagues Chris Hazzard in South Down and John Finucane in North Belfast
• The party’s Daire Hughes has also won in Newry and Armagh
• Sammy Wilson has held his seat for the DUP in East Antrim
• Former nursing union boss Pat Cullen held Fermanagh and South Tyrone for Sinn Féin
• In Strangford, Jim Shannon of the DUP retained his seat
• The SDLP's Claire Hanna also held onto her seat in South Belfast and Mid Down as did party leader Colum Eastwood in Foyle
• Independent unionist Alex Easton wins the North Down seat from Alliance's deputy leader Stephen Farry

In its 40-year history, only two people had ever been MP for Lagan Valley - now we have the third.

Alliance Party assembly member Sorcha Eastwood is the first woman and the first non-unionist to hold the seat.

Her predecessor, former Democratic Unionist Party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, was MP for the area for 27 years.

Before him it was former Ulster Unionist Party leader James Molyneux.

Overturning the DUP's majority is a significant win for Alliance, off-setting expected disappointment for the party elsewhere in North Down.

The first declarations arrived at about 03:40 BST despite expectations the first results would come at 02:00

It is believed most of Northern Ireland's 18 MPs should be known by about 05:30.

However that depends on how tight the race is in some constituencies.

There are five constituencies yet to declare - Foyle; East Londonderry; North Antrim; South Antrim; and Belfast West.

Ian Paisley, who has held the North Antrim seat since 2010, is under serious threat of losing the seat to TUV leader Jim Allister.

Meanwhile, the DUP may also lose in South Antrim where former health minister, the UUP's Robin Swann, is aiming to oust Paul Girvan.

Sinn Féin, which has hopes of becoming Northern Ireland's largest Westminster party, is aiming to regain Foyle from SDLP leader Colum Eastwood.

However, senior SDLP sources have told BBC News NI the party is happy with how they have polled in that constituency.

In total, 136 candidates stood in Northern Ireland in the first general election since 2019.

It operates as first past the post, which means voters put an X in the box beside one candidate who they want to be elected to the House of Commons.

The number of registered voters in Northern Ireland was the largest it has ever been for a general election - 1,363,961.

You can keep up to the date with the very latest across Northern Ireland via live coverage on the BBC News NI website, which began at 20:00. LINK

The live Northern Ireland results programme hosted by Mark Carruthers is being streamed on the website and also being broadcast on BBC One NI and the iPlayer.

The UK-wide results programme hosted by Laura Kuenssberg and Clive Myrie began at the same time on BBC Two and the BBC News Channel.

An extended edition of Good Morning Ulster will begin at 06:00 and will also be streamed on the BBC News NI Website, where live coverage will continue throughout Friday with analysis of and reaction to the full picture of results across Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.