Country Labor’s Cassandra Coleman will come away satisfied that she managed to claw back some of the ground lost to the Nationals in 2011, with particularly strong results at the Kandos High, Hermitage Hall, Wallerawang and Portland booths.

With about 54 per cent of the votes counted, Ms Coleman had secured 28 per cent of the primary votes, up from the 21 per cent Dale Turner won for Labor in 2011.

The improvement in The Greens’ vote was even more stark.

Tracey Carpenter said last Friday that she hoped The Greens’ vote would reach double figures and she remains within striking distance of achieving that goal.

Ms Carpenter has so far secured 9.21 per cent of primary votes, compared with the disappointing six per cent The Greens’ Diane Westerhuis won in 2011.

Part of that increase can be attributed to a statewide swing to The Greens, but Ms Carpenter’s higher profile and popularity in the electorate’s major population base, Bathurst, also played a part.

But, despite the swing against him, Paul Toole must still be counted as the biggest winner on the night. To secure around 60 per cent of the primary vote in an electorate that was a safe Labor seat just two elections ago remains a remarkable effort.

Mr Toole had a difficult message to sell in this election as Labor campaigned on the issues of electricity privatisation and loss of public sector jobs in the electorate, yet still he prevailed handsomely.

And until Labor can find a candidate to come close to Mr Toole’s personal popularity, the seat of Bathurst really appears to be his for as long as he wants it. Or until he moves to Canberra.