"He has been very supportive and encouraging of me right from the start," she said.

The seat of Chisholm is in Melbourne's east and although it falls under the Metropolitan Fire Brigade boundaries, it is home to the headquarters of the Country Fire Authority, which had its volunteers help in the Coalition's election campaign after an ongoing dispute over an industrial agreement with the state Labor government exploded.

CFA impact

Ms Banks said she had visited the CFA headquarters during her campaign. "The fact Labor have said it's a state issue is wrong," she said. "To me it's an Australian issue, a people issue. Trying to unionise voluntarism is appalling."

Although Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has denied the impact the CFA dispute had on the Labor vote, party strategists are analysing why the state only saw a swing of 1.5 per cent in Saturday's election, behind the national average of 3.5 per cent.

New electoral landscape New electoral landscape Marginal seats The final countdown in close seats Likely seats won so far What the latest counting suggests What the experts think will happen Research Greg Earl Australian Financial Review Interactive Interactive graphic by Les Hewitt

Labor candidate Stefanie Perri, who was running in the seat after the resignation of former Speaker Anna Burke, said the biggest issues in the electorate which decided votes were health, education and jobs.

"There is no doubt some state issues were distracting," Ms Perri said when asked about the influence of the CFA saga which caused a 1.7 per cent swing against Labor.

Ms Perri said the vote remained tight and she was no more certain than on Sunday.

She said she had received "a number of calls from a number of people" in the Labor Party. "It was always going to be close," Ms Perri said.

"Our campaign was a very grassroots campaign. I certainly haven't given up."