Barnett still has something to celebrate

Colin Barnett may have lost the WA election, but the outgoing premier will likely be celebrating something else on Sunday - his wife's birthday.

Mr Barnett made his concession speech at the Cottesloe Golf Club on Saturday just before 9pm and was greeted with loud cheers of support from loyal supporters when he arrived with wife, Lyn.

He congratulated Labor leader Mark McGowan for an "emphatic, convincing victory" and also thanked Liberal candidates and volunteers.

"We ran, in my view, a great campaign. There were a lot of factors out there, but at the end of the day, time was probably the factor," he told supporters.

Mr Barnett had been in power for eight-and-a-half years but there was a huge swing for Labor on Saturday.

"It is a phenomena I guess, particularly in Australian politics, that the electorate, the voters, only give a government, a people, a certain amount of time," Mr Barnett said.

He said during his government, there had been five prime ministers, five premiers of NSW and four of Victoria.

"We have provided long-term and stable and, in my judgment, a very good and ethical government for the people of Western Australia, in often very, very difficult circumstances."

The 66-year-old said his heart also went out to the Liberal members who lost their seat.

"Politics is a brutal, harsh business and that is a devastating thing," he said.

"It leaves people's whole lives in limbo, it's an enormous emotional strain and it happens in politics - that's the nature of the beast."