In a post-election address to the National Press Club in Canberra, Mr Wright argued that Labor lost the September 7 election because of too much infighting.

The national secretary paid tribute to his opponent, Mr Loughnane, awarding him the prize of "best on ground for the 2013 election".

"His stewardship of the Liberal campaign and in the years leading up to it - was driven, disciplined and delivered for his side."

Mr Wright said the "crucial thing that Brian and his team had in spades and ruthlessly drove their advantage with, was the biggest thing Labor's team lacked: discipline".

"I'm not sure if history will remember Brian's campaign as brilliant, but it should be remembered as brilliantly disciplined. From their captain to their most junior back-bencher they played like a team, and it worked."

In what will be seen as a not-too subtle comment on reports that Kevin Rudd was difficult to manage during the election campaign and that his travelling party was disconnected from Labor headquarters, Mr Wright added: "Brian was able to manage his leader Tony Abbott to the needs of his party's campaign strategy. He was able to stick to his plan of keeping his leader under tight control and of resisting pressure to release detailed policies and costings until after the voters had made up their mind."

Mr Wright also hinted at the difficulties of running Labor's campaign among heavy infighting and leadership tensions, noting that gothic horror was a favourite subject at university.

"So, as you can tell, I was perfectly qualified to be in charge of the ALP over the past couple of years."

But Mr Wright conceded that Mr Rudd had earned the right to campaign on his strategy.

"For the party to install a new leader in such drawn-out and dramatic circumstances – well, our leader was always going to be in the spotlight. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had earned the right — you could say he had accepted a duty—to campaign on his strategy."

The national secretary added that the move to Mr Rudd had also limited the potential damage to Labor and left the party in a position to "fight another day".

Mr Wright told the Press Club that Labor's election performance had still been painful.

"What I really want to say [today] can be summed up in three words. I - hate - losing."

In the question and answer session, Mr Wright said there had been a window, straight after Mr Rudd resumed the Labor leadership in June, when there had been a prospect of Labor achieving a “highly unlikely” victory at the federal election.

"I think in retrospect, going earlier [to the polls] would have been the way to go."

But Mr Wright also praised Mr Rudd, saying the former prime minister had campaigned extremely hard.

"He threw everything he had at it."

Mr Wright also had complimentary words for former prime minister Julia Gillard, saying he thought history would be kinder to her than current assessments.

He also praised her as "amazingly professional" and "tough as nails".

The national secretary was upbeat about party reform, describing the recent Labor leadership contest as an "outrageous success."

He told the Press Club that more that 4500 new members had joined the ALP since the election defeat.

Mr Wright added that Mr Shorten would lead Labor to the next federal election. "No ifs, no buts, no second guessing."