They're big shoes to fill - so who will replace Jim Allister at Stormont?
Now that the TUV boss is on his way to Parliament to represent his North Antrim constituency a huge void is left behind on the opposition benches at Stormont, so who might fill it?
What we do know is that Mr Aliister’s replacement will come from among the party’s existing councillors.
Even the TUV leader’s harshest critics begrudgingly acknowledge the role Mr Allister played in forensic scrutiny of a range of issues, so his successor will have big shoes to fill.
For years the TUV has been blasted by critics as a one man band. That is no longer the case with a number of relatively high profile councillors across the province, some of whom made their presence felt in the general election. The party also now has a presence at Westminster and Stormont.
There have been rumours over the weekend that the party’s East Antrim candidate – Councillor Matthew Warwick could be in contention. He is currently a councillor on Mid & East Antrim council representing the Braid area. He has worked for the Ulster-Scots Community Network since January 2008 – promoting Ulster-Scots linguistic and cultural heritage.
Mr Warwick also came in fourth in the East Antrim poll, taking a significant chunk of the unionist vote. The 4,135 votes he received appear to have made up the bulk of the DUP MP Sammy Wilson’s reduced majority.
Ron McDowell is probably the party’s most high-profile member after the leader – and has proven an effective operator in Belfast City Council. He has made regular media appearances and has been effective in scrutinising issues such as the council’s Irish language policy. However, as a Belfast councillor it could cause problems if the party parachuted him into the North Antrim constituency.
The TUV already has experienced and well-known councillors in the area such as Timothy Gaston and Matthew Armstrong.
Allister Kyle – who performed well in the general election in East Londonderry also knows the constituency well. He came fourth in the poll, comfortably ahead of the Ulster Unionist candidate with 4,363 votes.
Mr Kyle is well known on the North Coast in the Loyal Orders – and he has served on the board of directors of Coleraine Football Club since January 2014.