Jeremy Hanson confirmed he would seek the Canberra Liberals leadership as the party's very narrow path to victory appeared to vanish on Monday.
The Greens' Andrew Braddock was on track to win the fifth seat in Yerrabi, with the ABC calling the race for the incumbent MLA.
"It is an honour to be re-elected and a massive thank you to every single voter who has once again put their trust in me to represent them. To see a swing to the Greens in Yerrabi is incredibly humbling. I couldn't have done it alone and thank all of our amazing Greens volunteers," Mr Braddock said.
Independents for Canberra had been maintaining hope that David Pollard could win the seat, which would have opened up the possibility the Liberals, if they go on to win 10 seats, could negotiate a government with three independents.
Labor had already claimed a seventh straight election win on Saturday night.
A three-way race for the final seat in Brindabella continued with the Liberals hopeful of James Daniels securing the spot. But the Greens' Laura Nuttall had emerged as a contender, potentially ahead of Labor's Mick Gentleman, depending on preferences.
Liberals leader Elizabeth Lee is understood to have sought a meeting with the Greens on Monday, although the Greens had indicated publicly there were very significant differences between the two parties' policy positions.
Ms Lee on Saturday night conceded the Liberals had likely lost the ACT election, but offered no indication of her future plans.
Mr Hanson on Monday confirmed he would seek the leadership of the Liberals when the position was spilled at the party's first post-election party room meeting.
Mr Hanson said an argument about conservatism versus progressivism in the Liberals was wrong, and showed members had accepted Labor's framing of the party's fortunes.
"We are a big tent and I think these are the issues that matter less to the Canberrans who are voting for us. And you can see the Liberal party vote is broadly in the suburbs - it's families and retirees in the suburbs," he said.
Mr Hanson said the opposition leader needed to look credible, as well as have experience, maturity and the aptitude to be chief minister.
"I'm not saying that [Ms Lee does not have those qualities]. I'm saying that, moving forward, I believe that I have those qualities and given my argument about where the leader needs to sit, I'm in the best position to lead the party to victory in 2028," he said.
Mr Hanson said the Liberals needed to move away from an argument about conservatism versus progressivism and not hide from "who we are as Liberals".
"And when people vote for the Labor Party and whoever the chief minister, or whoever their member is, I don't think they're concerned about which faction they're from," he told The Canberra Times.
But party insiders said it was unlikely Mr Hanson would secure enough support within the party room to take back the leadership, which he held between 2013 and 2016 and unsuccessfully sought in 2020.
"He is yesterday's man who has been there for 16 years of the 23 years in opposition. The party should stick with its current leader and develop future leaders like Chiaka Barry and Deborah Morris," one insider said.
Mark Parton, who secured a quota in his own right in Brindabella, said the centre was the only position from which the Liberals could win an election in the ACT.
"I'm obviously bitterly disappointed that that didn't come off this time around, but I just think it would be folly to go searching for these far right voters in Canberra. It just strikes me as being blatantly ridiculous," Mr Parton told ABC radio.
Mr Parton said he had backed Ms Lee "100 per cent during this term and I continue to back her today", but said he was not in a position to rule anything in or out when it came to running for the leadership.
Internal Liberal party disputes continued to play out on Monday. Some moderate party members are understood to have discussed the need to send people to scrutineer in counting with a focus on eliminating votes for Ed Cocks and Mr Hanson, who are aligned with the conservative side of the party.
