Alex Easton is ‘confident’ that he could take the North Down seat from Alliance’s deputy leader Stephen Farry who won the seat in 2019 with a huge majority.

Earlier, Colonel Tim Collins conceded that he has not won the North Down seat for the Ulster Unionist Party – saying voters are “not interested in international affairs - they're interested in potholes & hedges”. He appears to be a distant third behind his rivals.

Meanwhile, Mr Farry has come close to conceding that he has lost in North Down. The Alliance Party's deputy leader, who was a surprise victor in the constituency in 2019, said that their assessment of the ballot boxes was that they would not win. Mr Farry said: "Realistically we have not won the tallies."

Independent unionist Alex Easton says he is “quietly confident” of taking the seat from Alliance’s Stephen Farry. He says he has polled well in Bangor, Donaghadee and Millisle.

Asked about who would replace him in the Assembly if he wins the seat, he said: “I will have to reveal that in the next several days and I will let you know”.

Speculation that he will give the seat to former DUP minister Jonathan Bell increased as Mr Bell was with him at the count centre.

He has previously said that he would give the seat to another independent rather than either of the two unionist parties who backed him.

Col Tim Collins spoke to the BBC early in the evening and appeared to blame the voters saying they were interested in more trivial matters than the platform he offered. His comments echo those he made to the News Letter earlier this year when he accused rivals of being more interested in dog dirt and potholes than international issues.

placeholder image — Tim Collins pictured at the UK general election count in the Titanic Exhibition Centre, Belfast. Picture: Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye

“People in North Down, I think they don’t want someone who doesn’t live in Northern Ireland,” he told the BBC.

“They’re interested in local politics, they’re not interested in cutting VAT, they’re not interested in international affairs. They’re interested in potholes and hedges.”

Asked would he run again in five years’ time, Col Collins said he could not predict what he would be doing then: “I was asked to do this, and I’ll happily do it. I financed myself and I’m pleased I did it because, I’m putting something back into Northern Ireland and I’m pleased to do that.”

He also defended comments he made during the campaign about his Rolls Royce, which he said was more expensive to insure in Northern Ireland.

“It’s Northern Ireland, they don’t understand these things. The point I was making is it’s an expensive car, it is cheaper to insure in England than it is here,” he said.