Labor leader Steven Miles arrived at Murrumba Downs with his family on Saturday night to a cheering crowd.

He lost the election, but he didn’t concede defeat.

Mr Miles then vowed to continue fighting for Queensland in a bizarre speech that some analysts described as a pitch to stay on as Opposition leader.

Others slammed his speech as ‘graceless and pathetic’.

‘Queenslanders, I gave this election everything I had,’ he said.

‘To the Labor supporters here at around Queensland, I know that you did too.

‘Being Queensland’s Premier for two months has been the greatest honour of my life.

For that the kid from Petrie it is more than I could ever imagine.’

He said Labor couldn’t form majority government.

When he said ‘the LNP is unlikely to form a majority’, the crowd roared.

‘Many seats remain too close to call. If you consider what we were up against, this is an extraordinary result.

‘This was always going to be a challenging election for Labor but I have no regrets about the campaign or indeed the last 10 months as Premier.’

He congratulated everyone who retained their seats, and said he was sorry to the ones who lost.

‘I would like to thank my mum and dad, my sister Kate, in my late grandparents. You made me who I am.

‘Most of all, I would like to think [my wife] Kim and [children] Sam, Aidan and Brady … Thank you for joining me on the campaign trail.

He thanked his son Brady for being in his ‘weird sandwich videos’.

Mr Miles then spoke about the positive changes he made as premier, including bulk-billing GPs across the state, free school lunches, cost-of-living relief packages, and affordable public transport.

He then took aim at LNP leader David Crisafulli.

‘David Crisafulli ducked and weaved and tied himself into the tiniest small target Queensland has ever seen,’ he said.

‘Never before has a party taken to an election with so little detail of their agenda.

‘This election finishes with many more questions about the LNP’s plans, than answers.’

Mr Miles vowed to ‘never stop fighting for out Labor agenda’.

‘And I will never stop holding the LNP to account.’

As he posed for photos with his wife and three children, supporters chanted ‘Steven, Steven, Steven’.

A Sky News host said it was ‘an odd concession speech without any concession’.

‘That’s one of the weirdest speeches you’ll see on an election night when you’ve lost an election, better campaign than many had thought but still: you’ve got to concede.

‘You’ve got to phone the winner of the election. He hasn’t done that. He hasn’t spoken to David Crisafulli.’

Former Labor premier Annastacia Palaszczuk sought to defend the speech but admitted Mr Miles could have said more to congratulate his adversary.

‘He could have spoken a little bit about David, the campaign and his family,’ she said.

Unlike Ms Palaszczuk, Labor Powerbroker Graham Richardson – who served in the cabinet in both the Hawke and Keating administrations – did not pull his punches.

‘It was as graceless as it was pathetic,’ he told Sky.

‘I’m not going to defend that.. That was a load of crap and I’m very disappointed.

‘You’ve got to show a lot more grace, you’ve got to be able to cop on one the chin and you’ve got to be able to lose well and win well.’