The Country Liberal Party has defeated Territory Labor in an election landslide that has seen Lia Finocchiaro elected the first female CLP Chief Minister in the Territory’s history.

The swing against Labor was certainly on across the Northern Territory, but nobody was expecting it to be as large as it was, which was in the double digits and more than 20 per cent in some electorates.

The ABC was predicting the CLP would form a majority government with potentially 15 seats in total – more than double the seven it went to the polls with – but that number could change when counting is finalised.

Former chief minister Eva Lawler has also been rejected by voters in her own seat, losing Drysdale to the CLP, making her the third chief minister to lose their seat at an election, joining Adam Giles and Goff Letts.

Labor was expected to win only four or five seats by late Saturday night, but four or five others were still too close to call and some could go to Labor.

CLP Leader Lia Finocchiaro was delayed making her victory speech by party president Shane Stone, who took to the stage ahead of her to bask in the election victory and thank the party’s good old boys and the campaign team for contributing to the win.

When she finally took the stage, Ms Finocchiaro told Territorians her party’s success was “a victory for hope and opportunity for every single Territorian”.

“Tomorrow is a new chapter for the Territory and it’s a moment of forward momentum for all of us,” she said.

“It represents the power of the community to take control of their future by electing a strong, united team of Territorians with the real world and government experience to set a new course for our community, our economy and out future.

“The great people of the Northern Territory have spoken loud and clear. They want to live in a safe community where our police are supported with better laws as we address root causes of crime.”

She added later that her first order of business would be to meet with Police Commissioner Michael Murphy and head public servant Ken Davies on Sunday to discuss her government’s priorities, including addressing crime.

Ms Lawler conceded the election early Saturday night, telling the party faithful in Darwin that she was “proud of the hard fight” they put up but that “this is a truly tough night for Labor”.

“It wasn’t the result we wanted to see, but I think some of the decisions were made a long time ago,” she said, appearing to reference former unpopular leaders Michael Gunner and Natasha Fyles.

Some seats too close to call when counting stopped

The ochre tide appeared to sweep into Darwin’s northern suburbs and Palmerston, although some seats remained too close to call, including Johnston, where independent candidate Justine Davis was in a neck-and-neck race with the CLP’s Gary Strachan while incumbent Labor member Joel Bowden in third. Ms Davis is expected to pick up the seat and could be the third independent elected.

In Fannie Bay, incumbent Brent Potter was trailing in third place behind the CLP’s Laurie Zio and the Greens’ Suki Dorras-Walker. Ms Dorras-Walker was still a chance to claim that seat after preferences are counted, which would be the first seat the NT Greens have ever won.

Nightcliff was also an early surprise with the Greens putting in a strong effort and making former chief minister Natasha Fyles uncomfortable early on, but it appeared later she would retain.

The CLP has claimed victory in Wanguri, with Oly Carlson trouncing Shlok Sharma and in Karama where Brian O’Gallagher easily defeated minister Ngaree Ah Kit.

Wanguri is Labor heartland, but it was expected to swing to the CLP after former deputy chief minister Nicole Manison announced she was retiring late last year after failing twice to get the Labor caucus to back her as chief minister.

The only certain independent members elected were Robyn Lambley in Araluen and Yingiya Guyula in Mulka. The ABC predicted Mark Turner to lose Blain to the CLP’s Matt Kerle.

The CLP has claimed Port Darwin and Fong Lim and was leading in Sanderson and Casuarina.

The CLP will also take Goyder, the seat held by former independent MLA Kezia Purick, who had personally endorsed Belinda Kolstead and ran her campaign. Adam McKay had an overwhelming lead when counting closed, 2,193 votes to 830.

Labor is expected to hold Daly, Arnhem, Arafura and Gwoja – deputy chief minister Chansey Paech’s seat.

Mr Paech, who had not been seen much during the campaign, told the ABC’s election night coverage that he would not rule out putting his hand up to lead the party as opposition leader, leading a team that as of Saturday night might only include him, Natasha Fyles, Dheran Young, Selena Uibo and Manuel Brown.

“We’ll work through caucus to make a decision [on leader],” he said. “I won’t rule it out.”

“Territorians always get it right [at the polls] and they made their voices heard and we respect that. As an Opposition, we will start our work now to hold the new government to account.”

Labor lost because they were ‘lazy, arrogant’ and lied to Territorians: Lambley

Independent Member for Araluen Robyn Lambley told the NT Independent she was not surprised by the massive swing against Labor.

“Territorians were fed up with being lied to by Labor,” she said. “They were lazy, arrogant and thought they could take Territorians for fools.

“You could see people cottoning on to the fact that they were being disrespected. It was just a matter of time before it all caught up to Labor.

“This was an absolute cleansing. This is what happened to us in the CLP [in 2016] and for a lot of the same reasons. It looked different because it was mainly men [back then], but in essence, it was the same behaviour.”