The WA Liberals have gone to ground to try to regroup after Labor's massive election win re-cast the state in 24 hours.
But as dire as things are, analysts point out that state politics has become volatile in Australia, record-breaking wins and losses are common, and if Labor performs badly enough the Liberals could even regain power in 2021.
But first they have to decide on a new leader, with Colin Barnett expected to at least sit on the back bench if not retire after Saturday's disastrous result.
His deputy Liza Harvey is viewed as the likely successor, but former corrective services minister Joe Francis also wants the job and Sean L'Estrange has been named in the mix.
But Mr Francis' electorate of Jandakot is on a knife edge, with Labor's Yaz Mubarakaie holding a slender lead.
The Liberals suffered a 16 per cent swing against them, losing one third of their primary vote, and go from 31 seats in the legislative assembly to a predicted 13 MPs, severely limiting the choices for leadership positions.
University of Western Australia political analyst William Bowe says the WA Liberals should take a leaf out of Tony Abbott's opposition handbook and be aggressive in challenging the government.
"I would make Joe Francis leader for the time being, I think he would be a terrific opposition leader, they want someone aggressive," he told AAP.
"You only get a very limited window on the nightly news as state opposition leader ... you need a terrier attack dog out there yapping away at the government in the media in a very forceful way."
Mr Bowe said there were a higher number of swinging voters not "rusted on" to Labor or Liberal anymore contributing to big election blowouts.
WA's society and economy has changed since the last election, with many people who had "over-reached" during the mining boom now struggling financially and turning to a Labor government, he said.
Rightly or wrongly they saw the Liberals as serving the interest of upper income earners at the expense of lower earners, he said.
Electorates containing new suburbs and new families turfed out the Liberals for Labor.
Meanwhile, it's emerged that Liberal strategists had planned a bizarre publicity stunt for the final day of the campaign, which involved treasurer Mike Nahan on a jetski and another minister scuba diving.
The West Australian said the "Fast Ferry Frenzy" was to have involved Mr Barnett taking the media on a ferry trip on the Swan River to showcase his government's achievements.
It was canned after key players refused to play along.
