The final make up of the Legislative Council will now see a crossbench of 11 MPs, while the Coalition will have 17 seats, and Labor will 14.

The Berejiklian government will now need five extra votes in order to pass legislation through the Legislative Council. In the last Parliament they needed only two votes.

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Mr Leyonhjelm prematurely declared himself elected just three days after election day when, with just six per cent of the upper house vote counted, he appeared to be a front runner.

But as the count entered the final week, it became apparent that preferences would decide his fate as he, Labor, the Christian Democrats, Animal Justice Party and Keep Sydney Open fought it out for the final three seats.

Rod Roberts, One Nation's second elected candidate, will join his party leader Mark Latham on the cross bench after securing the 21st and final seat.

Mr Roberts, a retired detective sergeant with the NSW Police, said he was “nervous and excited” about entering politics.

He said his policing experience would shape his approach to negotiating the passage of legislation with the other parties.

“As a detective, I always looked for evidence based stuff, and again in Parliament I think I will look for evidence,” Mr Roberts said.

“If either party can produce evidence to us to support their cause or policy, then I think we should pay due attention to it.”

The Animal Justice Party will also have two MPs on the cross bench after Emma Hurst won the 20th seat. She will join Mark Pearson, who became the party’s first candidate elected to NSW parliament at the 2015 election.

Ms Hurst said her election showed animal cruelty was a “big issue” for NSW voters.

“We will work with the government and we will work closely with anyone that’s willing to look at better protection for animals,” Ms Hurst said.

She said the party would use their parliamentary positions to advocate for the end of the battery cage egg industry and the “mass slaughter of kangaroos” for the meat industry, as well as seeking “better climate action”.

Labor upper house member Adam Searle said the outcome was a “good, solid result for Labor” in light of the party’s performance in the lower house, which saw them only claim an extra two seats from the government.

“The position of the government has been considerably weakened compared to earlier parliaments,” Mr Searle said.

“Given the shape of the upper house, the government now has an additional responsibility to work corroboratively across the whole parliament.”