Labor has won a territory by-election thanks to preferences, taking a city seat from the Greens and increasing the party's number of MPs to five in a 25-seat parliament.
Voters in the Darwin electorate of Nightcliff went to the polls on Saturday in a by-election triggered by the resignation of Greens MP Kat McNamara, citing health reasons.
The latest results on the Northern Territory Electoral Commission website show Labor's Ed Smelt on 52.2 per cent of the vote over the Green's Suki Dorras-Walker on 47.8 per cent after preferences.
Ms Dorras-Walker led on the primary vote with 1216 against Mr Smelt's 1052, with the Country Liberal Party (CLP) candidate Anjan Paudel on 738 and independent Phil Scott on 632.
Labor had a four per cent swing against it on the primary count but picked up 79 per cent of the CLP's preferences and 41 per cent of the independent's to win.
A check count on Monday by the electoral commission increased Mr Smelt's lead to 158 votes over Ms Dorras-Walker.
Until losing it to the Greens in the 2024 election, Labor had held the seat since 2001.
The party was thrashed by the CLP in 2024 when former Labor chief minister Natasha Fyles lost Nightcliff despite holding it by a margin of 24.3 per cent.
Ms McNamara won the seat in Darwin's northern suburbs by only 36 votes but now the Greens have no seat in the parliament.
Mr Smelt is a City of Darwin councillor and former civil engineer.
Territory Labor president Clare Martin said in a statement the win vindicated the work the party had done to reconnect with voters.
"This result reflects a community that expects better from its government and wants its concerns heard," she said.
