Senior Liberal figures say the party must review the way it ran its election campaign after it was reduced to just a small handful of seats across the Melbourne region. In a result that delivered a stunning majority win to Labor, the Liberals failed to make inroads in outer-suburban parts of Melbourne despite extensive campaigning on cost-of-living anger. Labor's momentum appears to have swept sitting Liberal MPs Keith Wolahan and Michael Sukkar from their seats of Menzies and Deakin in Melbourne's east.

On Saturday night Mr Wolahan was yet to concede, as the Liberals held onto hope that a strong trend on postal votes could still sway the contest. The Liberal Party was unable to regain the traditional stronghold of Kooyong, in Melbourne's inner-east, where teal independent Monique Ryan was returned with a swing towards her. In nearby Goldstein, fellow first-term teal MP Zoe Daniel was also on track to fend off a challenge from previous Liberal MP Tim Wilson.

Teal MP Zoe Goldstein celebrating a predicted victory. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica) Ms Daniel warned there was a new challenge brewing for the government. "I think that the government has to acknowledge that they've defeated the opposition but there's another developing opposition and that's the crossbench," she said.

"They have to listen to people who are represented by the crossbench. That's a large portion of the population. If they don't, that's at their peril."

Senior state Liberals said the result for their party was "catastrophic" and the teals' performance would embolden their supporters to get more serious about winning Victorian seats. Incumbent Liberal MPs Jason Wood in La Trobe and Aaron Violi in Casey were ahead in the race to hold their seats on Melbourne's eastern fringe. On the Mornington Peninsula, Liberal MP for Flinders, Zoe McKenzie, was facing a close count to hold onto her seat in a contest that included a Climate 200-backed independent.

Liberal Party 'going backwards' in Victoria While appearing on Channel Seven's election broadcast, Victorian Liberal senator Jane Hume said the party would need to reflect on its campaign efforts going forward. "I will concede that there are things that we are going to have to look at in terms of the way we campaigned in this election that we will never do again," she said. She described the election campaign as "extraordinary" and criticised attacks against Liberal policies which she labelled lies — including that it would spend $600 billion on nuclear power.

Former Liberal strategist Tony Barry said the Victorian result was striking. "The preconditions were there for a very significant swing to the Coalition, a very unpopular state government," Mr Barry said. "Yet it appears the Liberal Party is going backwards.

"We've got to stop drinking the Kool-Aid from the fire hose and we need to start having a serious review." Michael Sukkar was among the senior Liberals to lose their seats on Saturday. (ABC News: Andrew Kennedy) In the state's south-west, senior Liberal MP Dan Tehan was able to fend off a challenge from independent challenger Alex Dyson.

Mr Tehan said it was important the party had a proper review to "get an understanding of what has occurred". Victorian premier claims credit for victory Labor had been worried about how its traditionally safe seats in Melbourne's north and west would perform, with fears of a voter backlash. In some parts of Hawke and Gorton, Labor's polling had shown it was falling behind at the start of the year.

But the fears did not eventuate, with Labor holding onto marginal seats including McEwen, in Melbourne's north, and Aston and Chisholm in the city's east. Premier Jacinta Allan, who had featured in the Liberal Party's attack ads, told an election celebration at Trades Hall the victory was due to the success of Victorian Labor governments. "A lot of commentators and conservative politicians have built a career on kicking down on our state, our party and our unions — and every time we prove them wrong," she told the event on Saturday night. "

The incredible results for Labor in our state aren't despite what's happening in Victoria but because of what's happening here in Victoria. " Relief for returned Labor MP in 'very tight' McEwen Despite his success, Labor's McEwen incumbent Rob Mitchell said it had been a nervous night. "If you look at the history of McEwen, it's never been a safe seat.

It's always been very tight, very marginal," he said. Returned Labor MP for McEwen, Rob Mitchell, says the community has sent a message with its vote. (ABC News: Leanne Wong) "The last two elections that we've gone to, it's been the target seat for the Liberal Party, so we know they've put a lot of resources into it."

He said the community had sent a message that it was important for candidates to be part of the electorate they were representing. "This idea that you can just get someone to blow in without any idea in it for themselves doesn't work," he said. In the seat of Macnamara in Melbourne's inner-south, Labor MP Josh Burns was celebrating as he appeared to be on track to win a third term after a contest in which both the Liberal Party and Greens loomed large.

"I look around this room and I honestly didn't think this night would happen. We had blue to the right and green to the left, but the red army turned up," he said. Labor candidate Josh Burns is predicted to retain the seat of Macnamara.

(ABC News: Jason Katsaras) Despite its success, Labor was still facing a tight vote count on Saturday night in the northern Melbourne seat of Wills, which the Greens had hoped to pick up. In the heart of the city, Melbourne MP Adam Bandt was facing a closer-than-usual count to retain his seat, but he was expected to hold on. Strong result in Suburban Rail Loop seats emboldens Victorian Labor One senior Labor source described Saturday night's result as an "incredible turnaround".

"There was a sophisticated ground campaign, backed in with good candidates who outperformed on direct voter contact and fundraising," they said. Labor campaigners in Gorton and Hawke believed voters were turned off by aggressive behaviour from some Liberal volunteers, who were later revealed to be part of the Exclusive Brethren religious movement. The big victories in Melbourne's east have emboldened state Labor government MPs backing the controversial Suburban Rail Loop project.

Throughout the campaign, there were internal fears that the performance of the Victorian premier and her government would be a drag on Labor's vote. But that has not eventuated, even in the outer suburbs where fears were largest. Senior state MPs on Saturday night said it showed the party was on the right track and the project was popular.

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