Labor's unsuccessful candidate for Leichhardt, Billy Gordon, is grateful for the support he received in the Douglas Shire, apologising for "not getting over the line" in Saturday's federal election.

The Courier-Mail reported Mr Gordon was "not ready to concede defeat yet" at 8.26pm on Saturday night, with an early lead in the polls thanks to Cape York voters. With around 42 per cent of the Leichhardt vote counted, Mr Gordon was only 2500 votes behind incumbent LNP member Warren Entsch at the time.

At 11am this morning (Tuesday), with almost 80 per cent of the vote counted, Mr Gordon had garnered almost 45 per cent (after preferences) and Mr Entsch just over 55 per cent - a 0.7 per cent swing to the LNP.

“We bucked the national trend with the Labor Party receiving only a slight swing against us in Leichhardt,” Mr Gordon said. “A lot of people in the Port Douglas and Mossman area contacted me to be part of my campaign and I am grateful for their support." 

Mr Gordon said he was encouraged by "many wonderful people" on his campaign trail.

“They inspired me to fight this election right up until the close of the polls on Saturday night," he said. 

"I was really looking forward to thoroughly representing this diverse electorate," Mr Gordon said, adding many people had approached him in the past couple of days to encourage him to stand again.

“The way I feel right now, I’m ready for another campaign any time. I will be considering my future in the weeks ahead,” he said, with a rumours abounding that he may run for the seat of Cook in the next state election.

By 10pm Saturday night, outgoing Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had conceded defeat, saying Labor had "fought the good fight" and declaring that the majority of Labor’s Queensland seats had returned to power.

Mr Gordon praised former Prime Ministers Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd on their strong leadership, listing the Better Schools Plan, DisabilityCare Australia, the National Broadband Network and affordable paid parental leave among their achievements.

“Not a single Australian now and in the generations to come has not benefited from the great job of the Gillard and Rudd Labor governments. They guided Australia relatively unscathed by the Global Financial Crisis."

Meanwhile, in The Newsport's pre-election poll, Mr Gordon was the clear favourite, with just over 70 per cent of 181 votes. Mr Entsch recorded just under 20 per cent.