Labor has increased its numbers in Tasmania's Upper House to two after first time candidate Josh Willie ousted independent Adriana Taylor.

Key points: Labor's Josh Willie holds an unassailable lead in Elwick

Labor's Josh Willie holds an unassailable lead in Elwick Labor now holds two of 15 Upper House seats

Labor now holds two of 15 Upper House seats Mr Willie took six weeks off work as a teacher to campaign

Mr Willie claimed victory in the seat on Saturday night.

His victory means there are now two Labor and two Liberal representatives in the 15-member Legislative Council.

Mr Willie, 32, took six weeks off work as a teacher to campaign and estimated he had door knocked 11,000 homes.

"I walked the electorate and got a fantastic understanding of the people I wanted to represent," he said.

During the campaign, Mr Willie called for an independent inquiry into reforming the Upper House and free bus transport for primary and high school students attending their closest school.

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"We've worked very hard for this, the Labor Party has worked very hard for this and the job has only just begun," he said.

"I'm very keen to represent vulnerable people in the community and the community more broadly."

Ms Taylor said she was particularly sorry to lose her seat to a candidate with the endorsement of a major party.

"For our democracy I think it's very important that the Upper House be independent and now we'll have one more Labor person in the Upper House," she said

"One doesn't make such a difference but that's not a trend I would want to continue to see."

As the incumbent, Ms Taylor was the favourite going into yesterday's election but said she could not compete against the might of the party machine.

"There's not more I could've done with the hours that I've got and the means an independent has I couldn't have done more," she said.

Ms Taylor said she had no intention to run for Parliament again and planed to work more with community groups, spend time with her grandchildren and travel.

In the other result last night, independent Tania Rattray comfortably held her seat of Apsley in the north east.

Results 'don't suggest statewide move back to Labor'

Polling analyst, Dr Kevin Bonham, was surprised by Mr Willie's win.

"I thought that it was possible but I thought that it was unlikely Legislative Councillors once incumbent are so difficult to dislodge".

The last incumbent Upper House member to lose their seat was Labor's Lin Thorp about five years ago.

Dr Bonham said the incumbent generally had strong community networks and restrictions on advertising expenses made it difficult to mount a challenge.

He said Mr Willie ran a strong campaign through doorknocking a large number of houses.

"He certainly had to do that hard work to have a chance," he said.

"I think that there are a large number of factors that may have contributed to the result but certainly if you're a virtual unknown and you want to get known in a hurry you've got to do something."

He said the results in Elwick may have ramifications for Labor in the up coming federal election in the seat of Denison.

"It will be interesting to see whether that means they can recover votes lost to Andrew Wilke in that area although they would have to recover a very great number of them to pose any threat to him," he said.

But he said given Labor's performance in the Upper House seat of Apsley the results did not have wider ramifications at a federal level.

"The two results together don't suggest a statewide move back to Labor".