Campbell Newman heads into polling day today on the cusp of making history as the first Queensland Premier to lose his seat in a century.

Recent polls have Mr Newman's Labor challenger, former Bligh government minister Kate Jones on track to win Ashgrove back from Mr Newman, relegating him to a one-term MP and ending the "Newman experiment" that the Liberal-National Party embarked on before the 2012 election.

Mr Newman, a popular Brisbane lord mayor, was parachuted in as leader of the LNP from outside parliament ahead of the last election.  But the combative and defensive nature of the government following its historic 78-seat win in the state's 89-seat parliament, now sees it, and Mr Newman, teetering on the edge of the abyss.

But while the government is expected to be returned with a significantly reduced majority, Mr Newman is looking at following in the footsteps of Liberal Premier Digby Denham, who lost his seat of Oxley after one term in 1915.

Mr Newman would need to win more than 50 per cent of first preference votes to get across the line in Ashgrove, with the "just put LNP last" campaign run by unions, independents and minor parties expected to hurt the government in preferences at the polls.

Polling has the Greens vote increasing in Ashgrove, while Ms Jones maintains a lead over Mr Newman. At the same time before the 2012 election, the situation was reversed and Mr Newman went on to win with a 5.7 per cent margin.

The government has struggled to penetrate with its message, of its "strong team and strong plan", throughout the campaign, despite its big spending promises, contingent on the offloading the state's ports and electricity assets.

Labor has made "modest" commitments, but has promised to retain the state's assets. It has been light on policy detail, with most commitments relying on the setting up of committees or bureaucracies to examine an issue before moving forward. Public sentiment still sees it as not to be trusted with the economy, infrastructure or leadership.

But the government has struggled to overcome the state's unemployment rate, which jumped from 5.5 per cent to 6.6 per cent over the past three years and a strong campaign from green and conservation groups over the Great Barrier Reef and wider environmental issues.

Combined with what the opposition labelled the government's "broken promises", particularly Mr Newman's vow to govern with "humility, grace and dignity" and his pre-election promise that public servants "had nothing to fear" before massive cuts, the LNP has been forced to spend the 26-day election campaign warning of a hung parliament.

The final week of the campaign showed both major parties running out of steam, with Ms Palaszczuk unable to answer a question on the GST rate during a FM radio quiz, and Mr Newman accusing the Labor Party of being funded by criminal motorcycle gangs, providing his evidence as "Google it".

Their final push, the traditional leader's debate, was filled with last minute pleas to heed their message, with Mr Newman once again forced to defend his leadership style.

"The controversies have been there and at times I've been passionate," he said.

"But why, ladies and gentlemen? Because of you. 

"Because of your families, because of my desire to make this a better state, to create jobs and opportunity, to make this the safest place to raise your family, to give you the best free public hospitals in the nation and to make sure your kids are educated to have a great job.

"That's why I get fired up. That's why I get passionate because I'm in this for Queensland, I'm in this for you and your families. Not for me, not for my family, not for my MP's families but for Queenslanders.

"Yes, on occasions I've been fired up because I love this state and I'm working my guts out for it."

It was the first time Mr Newman had been able to articulate why the past three years had gone the way they had.  But if the polls are correct, it may be as late for him, as it was for Mr Denham.