MPs hail Paisley as best opponent

The Democratic Unionist leader saw off the challenge of his counterpart Alex Salmond of the Scottish Nationalist Party, as well as two Tory MPs.

Mr Paisley said he felt it was recognition for a "job well done".

"I don't think any other Ulster MP has received this before, so it's something for the province - I'm very pleased with it," he added.

The ceremony was organised as part of the House Magazine Parliamentary Awards, and the octogenarian politician was presented with a solid brass portcullis at Gladstone's Library in Whitehall.

Now the oldest MP in the Commons, the past few months have seen him sit alongside Sinn Fein in government for the first time after an historic power-sharing deal was reached.

But Mr Paisley said it was a tough call whether he preferred work in Westminster or back home in Stormont.

He said powers such as policing and justice were not yet transferred, but he believed devolution would succeed.

"It will not be in the near future, but eventually, I believe devolution will come to us on the law and order issue," he told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster.

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