NSW votes: Mike Baird's Coalition retains government despite swing to Labor.

Mike Baird has been re-elected as New South Wales Premier despite a big swing to Labor in the state election.

ABC election analyst Antony Green has called the result, saying Labor will be unable to win enough seats to form Government even though they received a swing of around 10 per cent.

“There’s been a 10 per cent swing, [and] that’s a statewide swing,” Mr Green said.

“The Labor Party needed to be going beyond that to win this election, and they may win Strathfield, but they certainly won’t win the election.”

It has been reported that Opposition Leader Luke Foley has already called Mr Baird to concede defeat.

Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian said the Government had expected to lose seats but was “thrilled” with the outcome so far.

“We’re thrilled with some of the results we’re seeing, but there is still a lot of counting to go,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“It’s interesting to see in some areas we’re actually seeing swings to the Government, which we hadn’t anticipated.

“So far, I’m pleasantly surprised with the result. I hadn’t anticipated that we’d hold onto some of these areas quite as well as we have.”

The result was in little doubt, with exit polls predicting the outcome as voting ended at 6:00pm.

Early counting showed the swing against the incumbent Government was inconsistent throughout the state, but the Coalition would hold enough key seats to retain power.

Earlier this evening, deputy Labor leader Linda Burney said she believed Labor was likely to lose the election, based on the exit polls.

But she said the swing back to Labor was important for the party’s standing in future elections.

She told 702 ABC Sydney she knew Labor would not win enough seats to form government, and would now instead focus on rebuilding.

“The real issue for us is that this is being seen as a rebuild after the 2011 devastation.

“If we can take the margins off seats right across NSW, and I think we will, that puts us in a fantastic position for forthcoming elections.”

This post first appeared on ABC online and is republished here with full permission.