On 14 September 2015, Abbott was defeated in a vote for the Liberal leadership (54 votes to 44) by Malcolm Turnbull, who replaced Abbott as Prime Minister the following day. After his defeat in the party leadership, he returned to the backbench and held his seat of Warringah at the 2016 federal election. He lost his seat to independent candidate Zali Steggall in the 2019 federal election. In September 2020, he was named an adviser to the British Government’s Board of Trade with the stated aim of providing "a range of views to help in its advisory function, promoting free and fair trade and advising on UK trade policy to the International Trade Secretary".