The former Attorney-General lost the fifth and final seat in Bass yesterday, finishing 1034 votes behind Greens MP Kim Booth.

Mr Wightman was disappointed but believed ``things happens for a reason''.

``When you enter public life and you know when you face an election, there's a chance you might lose your job,'' he said.

``The greatest challenge for us is the fact that we haven't been able to build a large volume of votes, in fact there were only 15,000 primary votes, which is always going to make it difficult to win two seats.''

The former principal of Winnaleah District High School, Branxholm Primary School and teacher at Port Dalrymple School started his political career in 2010.

He was elected to the House of Assembly and soon became the minister responsible for environment, parks and heritage, sport and recreation and hospitality.

Creating a Brighton bypass was the first major development completed during Mr Wightman's term, and is still something he is proud of.

Other political highlights include the introduction of legislation for ``no defence age'' for sexual crimes against children, amendments making it easier for children and vulnerable witnesses to give evidence in court cases, including through pre-recorded video, and amendments to the Anti-Discrimination Act.

He said it was an ``unbelievable privilege' to be in politics and something he was grateful for was the opportunity to help families find homes and provide work for those in need.

``But it does put a strain on your family and over the past four years not spending as much time with the kids as I would have liked has been a challenge,'' he said.

He said he looked forward to spending more time with his family, including taking his five-year-old son William to the V8 Supercars today.

``(My twins) are very excited about having dad around a little bit more as is my wife Katie,'' he said.

Mr Wightman said he'd love to get back into education and politics, but needed a few weeks to wind down.

He believes Scott Bacon and Rebecca White will be the future leaders of Labor ``but they need to be given time to develop their leadership skills first''.