Lee Tarlamis may have been elected to parliament for the first time, but for the Labor electorate officer turned politician, it’s not all smiles.

It is difficult when we’ve lost government, but I’ve won a seat.

“It is difficult when we’ve lost government, but I’ve won a seat,” he told Neos Kosmos.

Despite an overall swing against the Labor party of around 6 per cent, Mr Tarlamis has managed to hold on to the party’s third spot in the upper house in the South Eastern Metropolitan Region.

But he said Saturday night, election night, was a long night in Melbourne’s south east.

“In my region, when it was clear we’d lost Mordialloc, Frankston, Carrum and Mount Waverly, you start to think, ‘gee, are there enough votes out there for me?’.”

The first-time candidate was joined on the night by his father, Sam, and his sister, Nola.

“It was good to have them around,” he said.

As voting continued and Mr Tarlamis looked poised to retain the fifth seat in the region, he said he treated the congratulations with caution.

“The next day, people were ringing to say ‘congratulations’, and I said, ‘thankyou very much, but let’s just keep waiting’,” he said.

And he continued to wait.

On Wednesday, with 77 per cent of the votes counted, Mr Tarlamis said he started to believe he’d won the seat.

But he’ll hold out until the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) makes their formal announcement.

“It’s in limbo, because I can’t have any discussions about moving offices until the VEC make their announcement,” he said.

Saturday was a long day of campaigning, and Mr Tarlamis said it was hard to get a feel for the mood in his region.

“A lot of people seemed disengaged,” he said.

But he put the decisive swing away from Labor down to the difficulty of being re-elected for a fourth consecutive term.

“It’s probably not impossible, but the fact it hasn’t been done shows you how hard it is,” he said.

When he hears from the VEC, Mr Tarlamis will pack up his desk in the electorate office of Daniel Andrews, the outgoing Health Minister who looks set to become Labor leader tomorrow.

Mr Tarlamis said, as Labor enters opposition for the first time in more than a decade, Mr Andrews is the right person to lead the party.

“I’ve known Daniel for around 20 years, and he’s someone who can really rally the troops,” he said.

“He’s exactly the sort of person we need.”