What happens if Labor wins but Chris Minns loses his seat at the NSW election?

It's a high possibility given NSW Labor leader Chris Minns narrowly held his south Sydney seat of Kogarah in the 2019 election and has had the margin cut to 0.1 per cent with redistributions.

But what happens if Labor wins but Mr Minns loses his electorate?

If Labor won the majority of the 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly, that is 47 or more seats, the party could pick someone from its team to become the new leader and premier.

University of Sydney politics lecturer Stewart Jackson told ACM it would traditionally go to the deputy leader, who in this case would be Londonderry MP and shadow education minister Prue Car.

"That'd be the expectation in the interim but who the actual premier would be may be delayed a few days while the Labor Party sorts itself out," he said.

Dr Jackson said the other possibility if Labor won a majority was asking a member in another seat to stand aside or resign so Mr Minns could run in their electorate in a by-election.

"That's been done previously for a variety of different MPs at times when they're looking to enter parliament," he said.

"The most well-known example was John Gorton when he wished to move from the senate to the House of Representatives so he could be prime minister."

But he said taking this step would be a risky and difficult move.

"There'd have to be someone who'd be prepared to put their hand up ... to fall on their sword, which is a tall ask," he said.

"If you don't pick the right seat, you could lose the by-election. People might be [saying], why do we have to go back to the polls?

"It could be because we have to elect the premier but at the same time, surely the premier should have been elected in his own seat."

If there is a hung parliament and Labor was in contention for a minority government, Mr Minns would need to win a by-election while also requiring the governor's approval to become premier.

Dr Jackson said the by-election might be seen as another vote on the state's leader if the result on March 25 was close, but could drag the election process out by several months.

"It could [take] three or four months," he said.

"First thing, parliament has to meet to elect a speaker. Then you can have the writs issued by the governor, and then you can actually go to the byelection.

"The electorate is ... likely to take a dim view of that happening."

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The Labor leader is up against Liberal candidate Craig Chung, a lawyer and former Sydney city councillor, and independent Troy Stolz, who's gained a platform criticising the Labor leader's gambling policy.

Though past election results indicate another close race in Kogarah, Dr Jackson said Mr Minns will likely be bolstered by his profile as the opposition leader.

"You'd expect Minns to improve his margin. As opposition leader, he's in the best place to do it," he said.

"Problematically, he's been on the campaign trail around NSW. He hasn't had the time to be in his own electorate.

"But there will be a slight boost because he's the Labor leader."