Just 48.39 per cent of voters listed him as their number one choice this time around, down from 48.87 per cent in 2019 and well off his dominant performance at the 2017 by-election.

His latest result is only narrowly higher than when he faced off against former state and federal member Tony Windsor, in 2016.

This time, he wasn't conceding ground to a strong Independent though, with Labor and the Greens enjoying healthy swings towards them, particularly in Tamworth.

Labor's vote in the country music capital jumped to more than 18.5 per cent, its highest since the 1990s, while the Greens close to doubled their count, reaching 5.26 per cent.

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Mr Joyce particularly tanked in Coledale, where less than one quarter of voters favoured him, instead preferring Labor's Laura Hughes.

The Greens also enjoyed a huge jump at that polling centre, surging in popularity from 3.94 per cent to 18.78 per cent.

It is in Armidale though, where the progressive vote is truly on the up.

Greens candidate Carol Sparks, the former mayor of Glen Innes, averaged 18.48 per cent throughout the polling booths - higher than what Labor received in 2019.

Labor claimed more than a quarter of first preferences, less than 2000 votes short of Mr Joyce.

In the small polling centre of Madgwick, located at the University of New England, the incumbent received only 15.85 per cent of the vote, upstaged by both major party rivals.

Both Ms Hughes and Ms Sparks used action on climate change as the linchpin of their campaigns, a topic which Mr Joyce has remained particularly conservative on throughout his time in politics.

Neither candidate believed they were a chance of defeating the now former Nationals leader, but they were looking to deliver big enough swings to make him consider the rise of alternative viewpoints in his electorate.

Overall though the swing against Mr Joyce, across the entire electorate, was not as dramatic. His first preferences only slipped by 1.99 per cent.

First timer, Matthew Sharpham, managed 8.13 per cent of first preferences and was the best-performing Independent in the New England.

It was in the small towns and villages where Mr Joyce really dominated, a trend which has been repeated ever since his first run in 2013.

While boasting no more than a few hundred voters each, polling booths in places like Cassilis, Dungowan, Spring Ridge, Wallabadah and Yarrowitch all voted strongly for the Nationals member, with his first preferences ranging from 62.83 per cent to 75.44 per cent.

All three of the major parties, as well as Mr Sharpham, were also aided by poor performances from the other four candidates.

Pauline Hanson's One Nation's Richard Thomas, Liberal Democrats' Pavlo Samios, Independent Natasha Ledger and the United Australia Party's Cindy Duncan all received less than 5 per cent individually, and just more than 12 per cent between them.

The next three years will be a new experience for Mr Joyce, who will spend his first term as a member of the Legislative Assembly in opposition, and possibly on the backbench.

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