West Australian Nationals leader Brendon Grylls has conceded defeat in his seat of Pilbara, following a $2 million campaign against him by the mining industry angry at his iron ore tax proposal.

“I can’t come from this,” he told AAP on Tuesday.

He said he’d speak further about his loss next week, but now was “for the victor, not the loser”.

Mr Grylls had wanted to increase the 25 cent per tonne production rental fee on iron ore set for BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto in the 1960s to $5 a tonne to raise $7.2 billion over the next four years.

According to the ABC election website, Mr Grylls has suffered a 13.5 per cent swing against him and lost the seat to Labor’s Kevin Michel. The Nationals may also lose Kalgoorlie.

“We fought a fair fight and a good campaign - at the end of the day there’s always going to be a winner and a loser. And the people have spoken,” Mr Michel told the ABC.