There was a time when the idea of ‘prime minister Tony Abbott’ was something of a national joke.
The 'Mad Monk'? He's too conservative, too Catholic and just a bit too crazy, they said. Abbott may have seen himself as a future leader, but not many others took him seriously.
Sure, he'd been a fairly competent (if gaffe-prone) minister in the Howard government. But that era was over. It was 2009 and the Liberal party now belonged to moderates like Brendan Nelson, and later, Malcolm Turnbull.
But things weren't going well for the Libs. The Rudd government was still in the ascendancy and then-opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull was working with prime minister Rudd to implement a carbon pollution reduction scheme (CPRS) to tackle climate change.
The bipartisan approach offended the sensibilities of conservatives in the Liberal party and insurrection was in the air, they just needed a candidate. Abbott and senior conservatives quit the frontbench en masse over Turnbull's policy, and Abbott nominated for the leadership.
He wasn't supposed to win though. That honour was supposed to have gone to Joe Hockey, the compromise candidate, who was well-liked by the electorate but seen as a more inclusive leader than Turnbull.
In a three-way contest, Hockey's own missteps saw him eliminated on the first ballot and it came down to Abbott vs Turnbull. Hockey supporters who couldn't stomach the notion of continuing with Turnbull as leader switched to the Abbott camp and Abbott emerged from a partyroom meeting as the accidental opposition leader.
He won by a single vote, and people laughed.
If you had a drink every time you heard the word 'unelectable' that day you would have been hammered by lunch time.
Labor thought it had Tony's number and would easily be handed a second term by the Australian people. But Abbott had stumbled on a winning formula.
Suddenly, the CPRS wasn't just an emissions trading scheme, it was a "great big new tax on everything". Abbott waged a brutal campaign and the national mood began to turn.
Rudd was on the back foot and soon lost his nerve. Climate change, once described by Rudd as the "great moral challenge" of our time was now no longer on the agenda. If Rudd didn't believe in climate change, what did he believe in?
Rudd’s poll numbers began to slide and in a midnight coup his deputy, Julia Gillard challenged and won.
It was extraordinary. The 'unelectable' opposition leader had brought down a popular, first term prime minister.
Abbott knew he was on a winner and kept the brutal campaign going. The opposition leader had been a conservative headkicker since his university days and now found himself in his element.
Suddenly everything was a battle. Abbott was appearing around the country, donning a hardhat and hi viz gear, complaining about big new taxes, hordes of asylum seeker boats on our shores and a government in chaos.
He played the role well. He was Abbott the action man. A volunteer firefighter and marathon runner who was here to save the country from the dreaded Labor party.
Gillard called an early election to seek a mandate and barely won. She formed minority government with ragtag group of crossbench MPs from across the political spectrum.
Again, it was extraordinary. A first term government had come within a whisker of losing power.
A re-elected Gillard was now fighting a battle on four fronts. A full-frontal assault from Abbott, who never took his foot off the jugular. Behind her lurked Rudd, waiting for a chance to return the knife Gillard had plunged into his back. On the right was a rabid press, delighting in every Labor misstep, while the Greens dragged their minority government partnership to the left.
Suddenly, the idea of prime minister Abbott wasn't such a joke. Labor was falling apart as Kevin Rudd destabilised Gillard, and Gillard herself made a number of bad calls.
Abbott was dominant in the polls, but it wasn't so much because people liked him - they didn't - but they liked Labor even less.
For three years Abbott waged a brutal campaign against Gillard based on stopping the boats, axing taxes and ending waste. And it worked. Eventually Rudd replaced Gillard as prime minister.
Abbott, the accidental opposition leader, had now destroyed two prime ministers and was on his way to destroying a third.
The newly-installed Rudd called an election and lost badly.
Thanks to a combination of sheer, bloody-minded opposition and blind luck, Tony Abbott was now Australia’s 28th prime minister.
He should have been fine. He was an experienced minister in the successful Howard government, surrounded by an experienced team and commanding a thumping majority in the parliament.
After years of Labor chaos, people just wanted to return to the "relaxed and comfortable" feeling of the Howard era. The stage was set for a long-reigning Abbott government.
But the new PM never really transitioned into being a national leader. Ever the pugilist, Abbott could not stop fighting Labor.
In office, he was all about the same things as he was in opposition. Stopping boats, axing taxes and destroying Labor. Abbott the conservative warrior couldn't abandon his right flank to move to the centre. Shortly after coming to office he announced the return of anachronistic Australian honours - knights and dames - and was universally ridiculed. It was a sign of things to come.
The first Abbott budget was brutal. Designed to get national debt under control, it unfairly hit low and middle income families while leaving high earners relatively unscathed. The job of selling the budget was botched by Abbott and his Treasurer, Joe Hockey, and the government dipped in the polls. It would never really recover.
Big reforms in areas like welfare and education were quickly branded unfair and offensive to Australia's sense of egalitarianism. Sensing the public mood, Senate crossbenchers blocked reform and the government's thin agenda stagnated.
There were more gaffes, including the infamous captain's calls - like choosing Prince Philip to be Australia's first new knight - which infuriated the cabinet and backbench who felt they weren't being consulted on the big calls.
Hockey didn’t help. In trying to justify raising taxes on fuel, the Treasurer suggested that low income families wouldn’t be disproportionately affected because poor people don’t drive as much.
Asked about rising house prices, Hockey suggested the first step to buying a home is to get a good job. It was a bit rich coming from an exceedingly wealthy man whose investment banker wife owns several properties.
But it wasn't all bad news, Trade Minister Andrew Robb signed free trade agreements with Japan, South Korea and China. Stopping the boats was a genuine, if controversial, policy success which will allow Australia to take in 12,000 refugees from Syria. Controversial and unpopular carbon and mining taxes introduced by Labor were abolished.
But the gaffes and missteps continued. At one stage Abbott bit into a raw onion with the skin still on. It was deeply weird.
Fed up with captain's calls, junior MPs in February instigated a leadership challenge even when there was no alternative contender. 39 people voted for an empty chair and Tony Abbott described it as a political "near death experience."
A chastened Abbott promised that "good government starts today" (what had he been doing for 18 months then?) but key personnel like his heavily criticised chief of staff Peta Credlin remained in place.
Abbott had six months to turn things around, MPs said. But nothing really changed. The PM was still focused on Labor and never really offered a clear vision for the future. It was still about stopping boats and axing taxes (and now, national security; traditionally a conservative strength).
All the while Malcolm Turnbull lurked in the background. Popular in the electorate, he was the obvious choice to replace Abbott when the time came, and he could afford to wait.
The gaffes continued, the polls were stagnant and leadership chatter began again. On Monday it came to a head. Abbott's deputy Julie Bishop walked into the PM's office after midday to inform Abbott that he had lost the support of the party.
At 3pm Turnbull entered and resigned as communications minister. He asked Abbott to step aside as PM. When Abbott refused, Turnbull asked him to call a ballot for the leadership. It was on.
A short time later, Abbott faced the media. But still, even at this late stage, he could not stop talking about Labor.
"I have been heartened by the messages of support flooding into Liberal MPs' offices this evening saying most emphatically, "We are not the Labor Party." I want to repeat that. I have been most heartened by the messages of support flooding in to Liberal MPs' offices saying most emphatically, "We are not the Labor Party," he said.
"This country needs strong and stable government and that means avoiding, at all costs, Labor's revolving-door Prime Ministership," he said.
"Since coming to government, our team has stopped the boats, improved the Budget, cut taxes and increased jobs. We have laid the foundation for a better deal for families and for small business. You can trust me to deliver a stronger economy and a safer community."
It was a backward-looking speech which came shortly after Turnbull clearly enunciated the need for a new style of leadership and vision for Australia. The choice for MPs was clear.
Abbott lieutenants hit the airwaves calling for loyalty, but it was all over. Turnbull entered the partyroom with a small team and emerged a short time later as the prime minister designate.
Abbott left in silence and avoided the traditional post-spill media conference. After just two years in office, the accidental prime minister was prime minister no more.