Rising coalition star Wyatt Roy has finally conceded defeat in his Queensland seat of Longman, saying he can't wait to spend more time "just being 26".
Mr Roy fell almost 2000 votes behind Labor challenger Susan Lamb, who claimed victory last weekend.
But the Assistant Minister for Innovation had previously insisted postal votes could play a defining role in the tight race.
On Friday, he took to Facebook to concede he would fall short of the numbers required to retain his seat, even though he was likely to win "more first preference votes than any other candidate".
"I am so proud of everything we achieved together for our community and country and I'm looking forward to the next exciting chapter of life," he said.
"At the age of 26, I have had the honour of serving 1 in 5 days on Earth as a member of the federal parliament."
In 2010, at 20, Mr Roy became the youngest Australian to be elected to parliament.
He said he was leaving his community stronger than it was when he was elected.
Mr Roy congratulated Ms Lamb and thanked his "army" of volunteers, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and the Liberal National Party.
"Finally I want to thank my family, friends and loved ones who have sacrificed so much over the past six years," he added.
"I can't wait to see a lot more of them and to spend more time just being 26."
Longman was considered safe coalition territory prior to the 2016 poll, with a healthy margin of 6.9 per cent, but proved one of the surprises of the election after a swing of over 8 per cent against Mr Roy.
