BELFAST, Northern Ireland, May 6 (UPI) -- Ulster Unionist Party Leader David Trimble lost his Upper Bann seat to the Democratic Unionist Party in the British election Friday.
The moderate Unionist Party lost a further four seats leaving it with just one seat in Westminster, while Ian Paisley's DUP gained four taking, it to a total of nine.
The virtual elimination of the UUP, which with the moderate nationalist Social Democratic and Labor Party led Northern Ireland to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, signals growing anger over the stalemate in the peace process.
David Simpson, who ousted Trimble, said his victory "sends out a very, very clear signal that push-over unionism has gone forever."
There is speculation that Trimble, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the Good Friday Agreement with then SDLP Leader John Hume, may soon resign.
Meanwhile SDLP Leader Mark Durkan narrowly avoided a widely expected defeat by Sinn Fein to hold on to his Foyle seat.
The SDLP did lose Newry and Armagh to Sinn Fein but took South Belfast from the UUP to retain three seats. Sinn Fein now has five seats in Westminster but refuses to sit in the British Parliament.
