LABOR has retained Kevin Rudd's former Brisbane seat of Griffith in a by-election result that tracks closely the outcome of last September's general election.

Labor's Terri Butler claimed victory last night after the counting pointed to a 52.3% two-party preferred majority, just below Mr Rudd's 53% at the last Federal election.

On the primary vote, the swing against Labor was 1.78%.

LNP Senator George Brandis hailed the vote as a success for the LNP because of the small swing towards the coalition on both the primary and two-party preferred result.

Labor attributed the slight swing against it to a lower voter turnout at the by-election, believing it hurt the party in traditional Labor areas of the electorate, such as Greenslopes.

It had been a reserved campaign from Ms Butler, while her LNP opponent blanketed the electorate with billboards and corflutes.

In her victory speech, Ms Butler thanked Opposition Leader Bill Shorten for playing such a prominent role in her campaign.

The Greens earned just over 10% of the primary vote, line ball with last September.