Territory Alliance leader and long-serving MLA Terry Mills has lost the seat of Blain in one of the first significant upsets of the Northern Territory election.
With more than 40 per cent of the vote counted, the ABC's election computer predicts Blain will be a narrow contest between the Country Liberal Party's Matthew Kerle and Labor's Mark Turner.
Mr Mills's first preference vote is currently hovering behind both candidates at about 23 per cent.
ABC election analyst Antony Green said it would be impossible for Mr Mills to climb back from that position.
Mr Mills told ABC News he would not yet formally concede the seat but could "see plainly what appears to be the case".
He attributed the surprise loss to the difficulty of establishing a new party during the coronavirus pandemic.
"It's something we couldn't have predicted, particularly as a young party — very difficult to campaign — and still I think we've given it a good shot," he said.
His loss is a significant blow to Territory Alliance, which captured 47 per cent of the two-party preferred vote in the Johnston by-election earlier this year and entered the electoral race with its sights set on forming government.
Mr Mills served as the Country Liberal Party member for Blain from 1999 to 2014, a year after he was rolled as Chief Minister.
He was narrowly elected in the seat again as an independent in the 2016 NT election and founded Territory Alliance in 2019, adding sitting MLAs Robyn Lambley and Jeff Collins to the party before taking 21 candidates into tonight's election.
Mr Collins also acknowledged it would be "incredibly difficult" for him to retain his seat of Fong Lim in Darwin.
With 20 per cent of the vote counted, the former Labor MLA is in third place with 116 votes; Labor candidate Mark Monaghan is in the lead in that seat with 497 votes.
"You live by the sword, you die by the sword," Mr Collins said.
"The people of Fong Lim have spoken and I've accepted their decision."
More to come.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMibGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTA4LTIyL250LWVsZWN0aW9uLXRlcnJpdG9yeS1hbGxpYW5jZS1sZWFkZXItdGVycnktbWlsbHMtbG9zZXMtc2VhdC8xMjU4NjI2NNIBJ2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMjU4NjI2NA?oc=5
2020-08-22 11:12:00Z
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