After graduating from Sydney and Oxford universities, Abbott trained for the Roman Catholic priesthood (1984–87), but left to become a journalist. He was press secretary (1990–93) to John Hewson, leader of the Liberal Party, before entering parliament in 1994 as a Liberal MP. A cabinet minister (2001–07) under John Howard, he became Liberal Party leader in 2009 and Prime Minister following the Liberal–National coalition’s victory in the 2013 election. He is noted for his conservative views on social issues and his scepticism on climate change. He survived a leadership challenge in February 2015 when his popularity plummeted, but was defeated by moderate Malcolm Turnbull in a further challenge in Sept 2015. Turnball was previously Minister for Communications.