Adrian Schrinner re-elected as Brisbane Lord Mayor with LNP on ...

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has been re-elected to the city's top job, with the LNP on track to retain a majority of seats within the council chamber.

The election victory for the LNP at a local level comes amid significant swings away from the state Labor government in the Inala and Ipswich West by-elections.

Mr Schrinner declared victory last night, saying he was humbled by the result.

"While we expect to retain a majority in council, unfortunately many wards remain either too close to call or not enough votes have been counted," he said in a statement.

"Like me, I am sure many residents are disappointed at the slow count as well as the long queues and shortage of staff and ballot papers that occurred at many booths."

As of about 10:50pm on Saturday, with about 525,000 votes counted, Mr Schrinner had received 47 per cent of the primary vote.

Labor lord mayoral candidate Tracey Price was in second place with 26 per cent of the vote, while the Greens' Jonathan Sriranganathan had fielded 21 per cent.

ABC election analyst Antony Green said the LNP would maintain its majority in the council chamber, but with "a bit of lost furniture along the way".

ABC election analyst Antony Green says the LNP will retain its Brisbane council majority.(ABC News: Daniel Boud)

"It's more the Labor vote is down, the Green vote is up and the LNP vote hasn't shifted much," he said.

"In the western suburbs, you're looking at the Greens getting 31 per cent of the vote in all those [wards] in western Brisbane.

"That's well ahead of Labor and that points to what's going to happen in Cooper and some of those seats in western Brisbane at the state election if the Greens are polling so strongly in those areas."

'Being a political candidate is a wild ride'

In a speech last night, Ms Price – a small business owner, lawyer and first-time political aspirant – said she was proud of her campaign.

"We put forward our positive plans for change because Brisbane deserves a fresh energy and ideas after 20 long years of the LNP," she said.

Labor's Tracey Price says she is proud of her campaign.(ABC Radio Brisbane: Kenji Sato)

"In Labor, we are about the many – not just the few.

"Being a political candidate is a wild ride. It's not something that you do on your own. I want to particularly thank my family.

"Finally, and importantly, I want to thank the people of Brisbane for letting me into your lives, for sharing your ideas and your passion for our city."

Mr Sriranganathan did not concede defeat last night, but acknowledged it was unlikely the Greens would win the lord mayoralty.

"I'm stoked with the result," he said.

"When you look at the three-party-preferred vote, it looks like close to one in four Brisbane residents now prefer the Greens ahead of the major parties."

Mr Sriranganathan – who was previously the Gabba Ward councillor for seven years – said he doubted he would now run for office at the looming state election in October.

"I think I'm going to focus on supporting some of our councillors to get settled in," he said.

"I expect we're going to have a few new councillors who will need some support and advice as they take on their role."

Greens candidate Jonathan Sriranganathan says he is stoked by the result.(ABC Radio Brisbane: Kenji Sato)

The Greens are expected to win the inner-city seat of Paddington off the LNP, and retain the Gabba Ward.

Brisbane's sole independent councillor Nicole Johnston – who represents Tennyson Ward – was re-elected.

What happened in the two by-elections

Voters punished the Labor state government, with major swings to the LNP in both Inala and Ipswich West.

The retirement of former premier Annastacia Palaszczuk triggered a by-election in Inala. 

There were eight candidates running, with Labor's candidate Margie Nightingale, Trang Yen for the LNP, and Navdeep Singh Sindu for the Greens.

Antony Green said Ms Nightingale had retained the seat for Labor. Despite holding Inala, Labor suffered a significant double-digit swing.

The resignation of Labor's Jim Madden prompted the Ipswich West by-election.

The seat, previously a Labor stronghold held on a margin of more than 14 per cent, had four candidates — with One Nation and the LNP preferencing each other.

Antony Green didn't call Ipswich West last night, but the LNP appears on track to win the seat.

Addressing supporters last night, Opposition leader David Crisafulli said "we are humbled by how many Queenslanders for the first time have voted for our side of politics."

Long queues, low ballot papers at booths

More than 1.8 million people voted yesterday, in addition to 1.1 million Queenslanders who had voted early, and about 300,000 postal votes.

More than a million Queenslanders turned out to vote yesterday. (ABC News)

A remaining 140,000 postal votes can still able to be returned until March 26.

There were complaints about long queues at polling booths across Brisbane, Logan, Ipswich and the Gold and Sunshine Coast.

Some booths were even kept open about 30 minutes after polls closed so those already in queues could cast their vote.

Many voters told the ABC that the ECQ appeared to be understaffed at many polling stations, with some people saying they had decided to give up and "cop the fine".

A long queue to vote at Caningeraba State School in Burleigh Waters yesterday (ABC News: Jess Lamb)

Electoral Commissioner Pat Vidgen told ABC Radio Brisbane that feedback from across the state was that most queues took about 15 to 20 minutes to clear but acknowledged "there were some queues which were longer".

"There are some which were a bit longer, we'll look at that data and certainly moving towards October for the state elections, we'll see if we need to change some things around."

The Gold Coast

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate has been re-elected mayor for a record fourth term.

Mr Tate declared victory just before 9pm on Saturday night, with just 14 per cent of the vote counted.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate has declared victory.(ABC News: Gemma Sapwell)

As of 11pm, with 15 per cent of the vote counted, he held 51 per cent of the primary vote, while his main opponent Eddy Sarroff had received 19 per cent.

In his speech, Mr Tate said he would continue to work "flat out" for the Gold Coast every day.

He said his vision for the next four years would focus on delivering light rail to the airport and putting infrastructure in place to be ready for the 2032 Olympics.

"I thought I'd go into council to stir it up… I never thought I'd be a politician, but I guess winning the fourth term kind of makes me a politician," Mr Tate said.

"Thank you is such a small word, but I mean every syllable of it."

Elsewhere in South East Queensland, Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding is on track for re-election, Jon Raven is expected to win the mayoralty in Logan, and Joc Mitchell will likely the mayoralty in Redlands.

The Sunshine Coast

The Sunshine Coast mayoral race was too close to call on Saturday night, with less than seven per cent of the vote counted.

Incumbent Mayor Mark Jamieson decided not to contest this election.

Incumbent Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson bowed out of politics at this election.(ABC Sunshine Coast: Bree Dwyer)

Former television news presenter Rosanna Natoli and well-known businessman Ashley Robinson were neck and neck as votes rolled in through the night.

Ms Natoli said she was excited to be slightly ahead, but not knowing the result was nerve wracking.

"I know that I'll be waiting until tomorrow to actually feel like that is more secure," she said.

"It's really an emotional roller-coaster at the moment."

Ms Natoli celebrated at an election party in Buderim with her husband Joe, who was waiting to see if he has been re-elected as a councillor in the region.

Further north-west in Gympie, incumbent Mayor Glen Hartwig is on track to retain the top job. 

On the Darling Downs, in Toowoomba, Geoff McDonald is leading the mayoral contest with 81 per cent of the ballots counted. 

Townsville mayoral race 

In the race for the top job in the Townsville City Council, independent mayoral candidate Troy Thompson has taken a 2 per cent lead over long-serving Mayor Jenny Hill, with about 68 per cent of the votes counted. 

Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill is trailing Troy Thomson with about 68 per cent of the votes counted. (ABC News: Chloe Chomicki)

There are several tight contests in the far north, with Amy Eden currently out in front in Cairns, with 40 per cent of the vote counted. 

Meanwhile, Teresa Millwood is leading the Cassowary Coast race with 76 per cent of votes counted, and Elsie Seriat is in front in the Torres Shire mayoral contest with 61 per cent counted.

In Yarrabah, Daryl Sexton is in the lead with 60 per cent of votes counted, and in Aurukun with 56 per cent of the ballots counted Barbara Bandicootcha is out in front, as is Territa Dick in Kowanyama with just over half the votes counted.