Kristina Keneally could take up Sam Dastyari's Senate seat

Kristina Keneally hinted she would take up former senator Sam Dastyari’s seat
Keneally failed to dislodge John Alexander in Saturday’s Bennelong by-election
Mr Alexander was earlier forced to step down due to dual UK citizenship fears
Keneally refused to dismiss rumours she would take over Dastyari’s Senate seat

By Kate Darvall For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 00:33 GMT, 17 December 2017 | Updated: 00:38 GMT, 17 December 2017

Kristina Keneally has teased she will take up disgraced senator Sam Dastyari’s seat after losing the Bennelong by-election to John Alexander.

Former premier Kristina Keneally failed to dislodge John Alexander when she fell short in the Bennelong by-election on Saturday night.

Ms Keneally secured a five per cent swing towards her but needed 10 per cent to beat Mr Alexander, who resigned amid the dual-citizenship saga which embroiled Parliament.

Labor’s candidate Kristina Keneally concedes defeat against John Alexander for the seat of Bennelong at the Phoenix room at Club Ryde in Sydney

Mr Alexander resigned his seat in November after admitting he was a UK dual-citizen.

He renounced his British citizenship and recontested the seat, going head-to-head with Ms Keneally.

While she fell short of her target, the loss is not likely to have signalled the end of her career in politics.

She refused to rule out rumours she would replace Mr Dastyari in the Senate when she appeared on Sky News on Thursday.

Mr Dastyari (pictured) was forced to resign from his seat in the Senate over his relations with Chinese donor Huang Xiangmo

Mr Dastyari was forced to resign from his seat in the Senate over his relations with Chinese donor Huang Xiangmo.

Ms Keneally’s move into Mr Dastyari’s Senate seat would follow a war of words between the two.

She threatened Mr Dastyari with legal action if he did not withdraw comments about her relationship with disgraced powerbroker Eddie Obeid.

Ms Keneally has been grilled about her close ties with Mr Obeid – who was sentenced to five years in jail for misconduct in public office.

Labor candidate for Bennelong Kristina Keneally campaigning at Epping train station in Sydney

Ms Keneally remained upbeat about the future of the Labor Party when she conceded defeat on Saturday night.

‘If this result was replicated at a general election, we would see 24-28 seats fall and, friends, that would mean a Labor government and would mean Bill Shorten as our prime minister,’ she said.

Despite her confidence in the Labor party, the result put the Liberal party in a comfortable position.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull retained his one-seat majority in the lower-house.

The Bennelong by-election result also made any leadership spills unlikely.