Results confirm Howard seat loss

Mr Howard said Labor had won "fairly and squarely"

Australia's former Prime Minister John Howard has lost his seat in parliament, official results have confirmed.

Mr Howard, whose centre-right coalition led Australia for 11 years, is only the second sitting leader in the country's history to be unseated in an election.

Labor rival Maxine McKew, a former TV reporter, took the Sydney constituency of Bennelong which Mr Howard had represented for 33 years.

Labor won a convincing victory in last month's federal elections.

Mr Howard had already been replaced as leader of the Liberal Party by former Defence Minister Brendan Nelson.

Ms McKew was a popular and respected political reporter

Newly-elected Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has given Ms McKew a job in his government, as parliamentary secretary to the prime minister and cabinet.

But she was not officially confirmed as an MP until a ceremony on Wednesday.

Mr Howard said Labor had won the seat "fairly and squarely" and wished the new government well.

"It was [a] very long campaign and it was a tough campaign and I have no complaints."

The race in the Bennelong constituency had been very tight, and a final result could not be declared until postal and absentee votes had been counted.