Luke Foley lost the state election, but made Labor a politically relevant force, the opposition leader said in his concession speech on Saturday night.
Renewal was the major theme of Mr Foley's concession speech, delivered before a previously subdued crowd of about 150 Labor faithful who came alive when he took the stage.
"We thank the people of NSW for bringing Labor back to relevance," he said at Dooleys, a Catholic club in Lidcombe. "I lead a revived NSW Labor party, our journey of renewal and change must continue.
MPs had conceded privately since before polls opened that they did not expect Labor to win.
But after gaining between 10 and 12 new seats for Labor they credit Mr Foley with making Mr Baird fight for an election which they said he seemed destined to walk in when he assumed office in May. They also praise him for renewing the party's policy platform.
"We have received a half million more votes today than we did at the last election," Mr Foley said.
Mr Foley called Premier Mike Baird to concede defeat at 9 pm on Saturday night, in what was said to be a cordial exchange.
Mr Foley, appeared on stage with his wife, Edel, and thanked his rival, Mr Baird, for what he described as a clean and fair campaign.
"His government had entered very stormy waters and he steered the ship to safety he is a formidable opponent," he said of the Premier. "He's also an honourable opponent. I want to thank Mike for the way he's conducted himself."
Mr Baird had last week condemned Labor for running what he described as a scare campaign on foreign ownership of electricity prices without precedent.
Luke Foley entered the final stretch of the campaign before 3 am on Saturday.
He scanned the newspapers and media reports from the night before. It was likely neither uplifting reading but nor a surprise.
After a breakfast television blitz he made a rare appearance with his wife to cast a vote in Drummoyne, the electorate of his west Concord home.
It was her first vote in an Australian election. The Irish émigré became an Australian citizen last year.
Mr Foley spent the rest of the day campaigning in his seat of Auburn. He was last night projected to retain the seat, despite suffering a small swing against the party of about 2 per cent.
The Lebanese Muslim Association had come out against Mr Foley, after they protested mistreatment of Hicham Zraika, the man who had been expected to campaign for Labor's nomination before Mr Foley unexpectedly became leader.
Mr Foley made special mention of the woman who stood aside to make way for his transition from the legislative council to a seat in the lower house, outgoing Auburn MP Barbara Perry.
Then, after 82 days as Labor's leader, he went home to write his concession speech.
