Bob Richards, the former deputy premier, is retiring from politics after his defeat at the polls.

He lost his Devonshire East seat to newcomer Christopher Famous, of the Progressive Labour Party, by 94 votes after a big turnout by voters in Constituency 11.

Mr Richards, who was first elected as an MP in 2007 and has been finance minister since December 2012, said he had done his public service and his conscience was clear.

“I’ve done my best. This has accelerated my retirement from politics,” he said.

Mr Famous won the seat after receiving 513 votes compared to the 419 for Mr Richards.

When asked what he will do next, Mr Richards said: “I don’t know. But I am certainly going to retire from politics. I’m more than old enough. This is the end of the line for me. My public service is done.”

Supporters greeted Mr Famous as he stepped out of the Horticultural Hall in the Botanical Gardens where the votes had been counted.

Mr Famous said: “I have an axiom — all politics is local, and if you keep in touch with your constituents they will keep in touch with you.”

When asked what had made the difference between the candidates’ campaigns, he said: “Door-to-door contact, simple as that. Looking people in the eye, letting them feel your sincerity and you hear their concerns. Once they know that you are hearing their concerns, and you are going to act on their concerns, then they will support you.”

To the voters, he said: “Thank you for putting your faith in me, and I’ll be knocking on your doors on Saturday.”

Mr Famous said the three biggest concerns of constituents were education, employment, and the economy.

And he paid tribute to Mr Richards.

“I know politics is not easy, and makes enemies out of people. But some of his policies have helped the country. However, they may have been interpreted in a different light,” he said.

“But as a country we have to continue some of those policies in order to address our deficit and our national debt.”

While Mr Richards, who also served in the Senate in the late 1990s and mid 2000s, said: “I’m hopeful that the new Government will continue some of the fiscal policies that we have put in place — they are critical for us moving forward. We’ll see what they do.”

He believed the big turnout of voters had made an impact on the result. There were 932 votes cast in the constituency, out of 1,234 registered voters.

Mr Richards said: “I got close to the same amount of votes as last time. It is a huge turnout here, and that made a difference.”

When asked if he thought the controversy surrounding the building of the new airport terminal had been a factor with voters, he said: “I don’t know. The airport will continue; it is a binding contract.”

Mr Richards said he had congratulated Mr Famous during the counting of the votes.

“I congratulated him before the vote was finished and it was clear that there was no way I would catch up.”