The humiliating phone call Liberal leader was forced to make after bitter battle for nation’s capital

The Liberals have conceded defeat in the ACT despite early polling suggesting they might bring finally bring an end to 23 years of Labor dominance in the nation’s capital.

With just over half of the vote was counted early on Saturday night, the Liberals were outpolling the incumbent Labor Party after a surprising show of support.

But as the evening – and vote – count progressed, it soon became clear Labor was likely to survive a swing against the party and be returned for a seventh term. 

And by 9.30pm it was all over, and Liberal leader Elizabeth Lee conceded defeat , telling her colleagues they knew they had a ‘pretty steep uphill battle to climb’.

‘Today, the people of the Australian Capital Territory have spoken. They have voted for change, but perhaps not quite enough to get us there,’ she said.

Ms Lee congratulated Labor and its leader Andrew Barr, saying ‘no matter how you cut it up, 27 years … is an incredible feat’.

She said she thought the result showed the territory had missed out on an opportunity for a fresh start after nearly three decades under the same party, but said she had made Labor work.

Early indictations suggested the Liberals were polling well but, by 9.30pm, it was all over

‘I truly believe that we are the better team. And I really think that we … have what it takes to deliver the refresh for the ACT that is sorely needed,’ she said.

‘I think that we can be proud of our efforts, because we really did take it to Labor, and we closed the gap between the Labor and Liberal vote’.

Labor and Liberal candidates had been fighting to increase their share of the 25 seats in the Legislative Assembly.

Looking at the votes that have already been counted, political pundits predicted there would likely be 10 seats go to the Liberals, 10 to Labor, three to the Greens and two to the independents.

Australian Capital Territory chief minister Andrew Barr will continue to lead the territory

Ms Lee conceded defeat after calling incumbent ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr, who has led the territory for the past ten years.

He has cemented his place as the longest serving state or territory leader in the country.

Both Mr Barr and Ms Lee were re-elected alongside ACT Greens’ Shane Rattenbury in Canberra’s central electorate of Kurrajong soon after the vote count began on Saturday night.