NSW Liberals cling to heartland as Labor takes cake

NSW Liberals are hopeful of retaining seats in its northern beaches heartland despite a crushing defeat in its bid to win a fourth consecutive term. 

A murmur rose among the sparse crowd of party faithful at the Liberal election function in Sydney's Hilton hotel as election analysts called a convincing Labor win.

"Obviously, as you can see, it's not looking as promising anymore in some of the western Sydney seats," a Liberal Party insider told AAP.

He said the party remained confident of its chances of holding on to traditionally Liberal-held beachside Sydney seats including Manly and North Shore, where it faced strong challenges from a number of independent candidates.

"The independent seats right now look like they're holding. None of them are currently, on our count, looking like they're going to get there (the independents)."

A series of major losses have played out for the coalition, including losses in East Hills, Monaro, Ryde, Penrith and South Coast, with an overall 6.6 per cent swing to Labor.

Former NSW premier Mike Baird had been optimistic that victory could be possible under Premier Dominic Perrottet.

"There is a pathway, but it's tough. I think everyone's nervous and I'm sure the Labor Party are as well," he told the Nine Network on Saturday.

The latest Newspoll on election eve predicted victory for Labor, who lead the coalition 54.5 to 45.5.

Earlier Deputy Liberal Leader Matt Kean said the deck was stacked against the party as it tried to secure an unprecedented fourth term of coalition government.

"Fighting the tide of history is like fighting gravity. The deck is stacked against us here," Mr Kean told ABC Television.

"So, it is going to be Mount Everest to climb."

A slew of 12 coalition MPs announced their retirement ahead of the state election, but Mr Kean said all government's went through generational change.

"A number of those people retiring were there since the O'Farrell government was elected in 2011," he said.

"There is always generational change."

Education Minister and Nationals MP Sarah Mitchell said her nerves had been in check after spending time working the polling booths in recent weeks.

"I don't think the baseball bats are out for the government but I think it's going to come down seat by seat."

Her party hopes to retain the 12 seats they hold, with ambitions for other regional seats including Greens-held Ballina, and former Shooters Fishers and Farmers seats of Barwon and Murray, now held by independents.