A new poll has seen support for the DUP slip to 13 percent, overtaken by both the UUP and TUV.
A LucidTalk poll for the Belfast Telegraph showed support for the DUP dropping by three points, making it the fourth most popular party in the North, and tied with the Alliance and the DUP.
Sinn Féin held strong as the most popular party at 25 percent, followed by UUP at 16 percent, up two points.
This is the first time in more than 20 years that the UUP has led a unionist party.
Jim Alistair’s traditional Federalist vote saw significant gains, rising by 3 percent to become the third most popular party at 14 percent.
But the DUP’s decline continues, with the party down three points to 13 percent since the last poll was conducted in May, at a time of chaos when Edwin Potts replaced Arlene Foster.
It will make a disturbing reading of Sir Geoffrey Donaldson, who replaced Mr Potts as captain when he stepped down after 21 days in the post.
The DUP has more than halved in three years, having stood at 31 per cent in the 2019 Westminster election.
After making steady gains in recent polls, support for the Alliance party fell 3 percent to 13 percent, after it was tied as the second most popular party with the DUP in May.
The approval rating for the Greens is 2 percent, people before profit are 2 percent, and 2 percent choose «others».
The results leave Sinn Féin’s Vice President Michelle O’Neill on her way to becoming first minister after the next assembly elections scheduled for May 2022.
Doug Petty became Deputy Prime Minister.
Meanwhile, Health Minister and UUP member Robin Swan was voted as the most popular leader in the North, with 75 percent of his performance rated as good or outstanding.
UUP leader Mr Petty came next, with 44 per cent rated his performance as good or great, followed by Alliance leader Naomi Long at 38 per cent and Sustainable Development Party leader Collum Eastwood at 24 per cent.
Despite his party’s unprecedented gains, TUV leader Alistair was the least popular, with 51 percent rating his performance as poor or awful.
He was followed by Prime Minister Paul Gevan, who rated 48 percent as bad or horrific, Mr. Donaldson at 47 percent, and O’Neill at 45 percent.
Meanwhile, both British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis remain incredibly unpopular, with 79 per cent and 77 per cent respectively rating their performance as bad or terrible.