Look up Abbott in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Not to be confused with Abbot, the title given to the head of a monastery.

Abbott may refer to:

People[link]

• Abbott (surname), for people named Abbott
• Abbott Handerson Thayer (1849-1921), American painter and naturalist
• Jim Abbott a baseball player that had only one hand to play baseball with. He was a Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher.
• Abbott and Costello, famous American vaudeville act

Places in the United States[link]

• Abbott, Arkansas
• Abbott, California
• Abbott, Iowa
• Abbott, Mississippi
• Abbott, Nebraska
• Abbott, New Mexico
• Abbott, Texas
• Abbott, Virginia
• Abbott, West Virginia
• Abbott Township, Potter County, Pennsylvania

Science[link]

• Abbott Laboratories, a pharmaceutical and health care company

Other[link]

• Abbott-Detroit, an American luxury automobile
• E. D. Abbott Ltd, maker of car bodies in England between 1929 and 1972
• Abbott's Get Together, a magic convention held in Michigan

See also[link]

• All pages beginning with "Abbott"

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Lisa Wilkinson
Lisa Wilkinson in 2008
Born	Lisa Wilkinson (1959-12-19) December 19, 1959 (age 52) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation	Television presenter, journalist
Notable credit(s)	Weekend Sunrise Co-host (2005–2007) Today Co-host (2007–present)
Spouse	Peter FitzSimons
Children	Jake, Louis, Billi
Website
http://today.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=267866

Lisa Wilkinson (born 19 December 1959 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian journalist and television presenter.

Wilkinson is currently a co-host of the Nine Network's breakfast television program Today.

Career[link]

Wilkinson began her career at a young age, working for the magazine Dolly. At age 21, she became the youngest ever editor of the magazine.^[1] After four years she was appointed editor of the magazine Cleo and went on to become International Editor-in-Chief.

Her television career began in the late 1990s when she was a regular panelist on Network Ten and Foxtel's Beauty and the Beast. During the 2000 Summer Olympics, she (along with Duncan Armstrong) co-hosted The Morning Shift on the Seven Network.

In April 2005, she began hosting Weekend Sunrise with Chris Reason, later with Andrew O'Keefe.

On 10 May 2007, it was confirmed that Wilkinson was to co-host Today on the Nine Network after Jessica Rowe left the network. Her last appearance on Weekend Sunrise was 6 May 2007, and she began appearing on Today on 28 May 2007.^[2]

Since 2008, Wilkinson has been host of the Nine Network's Carols by Candlelight with Karl Stefanovic replacing longtime host Ray Martin.

Personal life[link]

Wilkinson is a former student of Campbelltown High School (now Campbelltown High School of the Performing Arts).^[1]

She married media personality Peter FitzSimons on 26 September 1992. They have three children, Jake, Louis and Billi.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Today biography
• Official Twitter
• Lisa Wilkinson at the Internet Movie Database
• Lisa Wilkinson's corporate speaking biography

Diane Abbott MP
Shadow Minister for Public Health
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 October 2010
Leader	Ed Miliband
Preceded by	Gillian Merron
Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 June 1987
Preceded by	Ernest Roberts
Majority	14,408 (31.0%)
Personal details
Born	(1953-09-27) 27 September 1953 (age 58) Paddington, London, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Richard Thompson (m. 1991-1993, divorced)
Children	Son
Alma mater	Newnham College, Cambridge
Website	www.dianeabbott.org.uk

Diane Julie Abbott (born 27 September 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987, when she became the first black woman to be elected to the House of Commons.^[1] In 2010, Abbott became Shadow Public Health Minister after unsuccessfully standing for election as leader of the Labour Party.^[2][3][4]

Biography[link]

Early life and career[link]

Abbott was born to Jamaican immigrants in London in 1953. Her father was a welder and her mother a nurse.^[5] She attended Harrow County Grammar School for Girls, and then Newnham College, Cambridge, where she read history.^[6] At Cambridge, she was tutored by historian Simon Schama.^[7] After university she became an administration trainee at the Home Office (1976 to 1978), and then a Race Relations Officer at the National Council for Civil Liberties (1978 to 1980).^[8] Abbott was a researcher and reporter at Thames Television from 1980 to 1983 and then a researcher and reporter at the breakfast television company TV-am from 1983 to 1985. Abbott was a press officer at the Greater London Council under Ken Livingstone from 1985 to 1986 and Head of Press and Public Relations at Lambeth Council from 1986 to 1987.^[8]

Political career[link]

Abbott's career in politics began in 1982 when she was elected to Westminster City Council serving until 1986. In 1987 she was elected to the House of Commons, replacing the deselected serving Labour MP Ernest Roberts as MP for Hackney North & Stoke Newington.

Abbott has a record of differing from some party policies, voting against the Iraq war, opposing ID cards and campaigning against the renewal of Britain's Trident nuclear weapons.^[9] She has been seen as a 'maverick, a free-thinker, willing to rebel against the party machine.'^[10]

Abbott's speech on civil liberties, in the debate on the Counter-Terrorism Bill 2008^[11] won The Spectator magazine's 'Parliamentary Speech of the Year' award^[12] and further recognition at the 2008 Human Rights awards.^[13]

Abbott has served on a number of parliamentary committees on social and international issues. For most of the 1990s she also served on the Treasury Select Committee of the House of Commons.^[14] She went on to serve on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.^[14]

Abbott chairs the All Party Parliamentary British-Caribbean Group and the All Party Sickle Cell and Thalassemia Group.^[14]

Abbott is founder of the London Schools and the Black Child initiative, which aims to raise educational achievement levels amongst black children.^[15]

In May 2010, she was re-elected in her constituency of Hackney North and Stoke Newington, with a doubled majority on an increased turn-out.^[16]

2010 Labour Party leadership election[link]

On 20 May 2010 Abbott announced her intention to stand in the Labour leadership contest. She secured the necessary 33 nominations by 9 June, assisted by the withdrawal of fellow left wing candidate John McDonnell and unexpected support from fellow candidate David Miliband.^[17][18][19] On Saturday 25 September 2010, Ed Miliband was announced as the new leader of the Labour Party with Abbott eliminated in the first round of voting after securing 7.24% of votes.^[2]

Abbott was later appointed Shadow Minister for Public Health by Ed Miliband, taking shadow responsibility for a range of issues including children's health, maternity services, sexual health, tobacco, nursing, obesity and alcohol abuse.^[20] Following her move onto the front-bench, the Telegraph said on 27 September 2011 that Abbott had 'become one of Labour’s best front bench performers'.^[21]

Media work[link]

Abbott has built up a high profile within the media.^[10]

Until her appointment as a shadow minister in October 2010, Abbott appeared alongside former Conservative politician and media personality Michael Portillo on the BBC's weekly politics digest This Week. Abbott and Portillo have known each other since school, when they appeared in joint school productions of Romeo and Juliet (although not in the title roles), and of Macbeth as Lady Macduff and Macduff respectively.^[22]

Abbott is a frequent public speaker,^[23] newspaper contributor^[24] and TV performer, appearing on programmes such as Have I Got News For You, Celebrity Come Dine with Me^[25] and Cash in the Celebrity Attic.^[26]

Political controversies[link]

The education of Abbott's son[link]

Abbott's decision in 2003 to send her son to the private City of London School, which she herself described as "indefensible" and "intellectually incoherent", caused controversy and criticism.^{[27][28][29][30]} This issue was discussed in the media during Abbott's 2010 bid to become leader of the Labour Party and Andrew Neil questioned her on the issue on This Week.^[31]

Her son contacted a radio phone-in to say that his mother was following his own wishes: "She's not a hypocrite, she just put what I wanted first instead of what people thought," he told LBC. He added that he had wanted to go private rather than attend a local state school in Abbott's Hackney constituency.^[32][33][34]

Failure to declare earnings[link]

In 2004, following a complaint made by Andrew Rosindell MP, Abbott was investigated by the Committee on Standards and Privileges regarding payment she had received from the BBC. They found she had failed to declare earnings of £17,300 on the Register of Members' Interests which had been received for appearances on the television programme This Week. The Committee upheld the complaint and required Abbott to apologise to the House.^[35]

Race comments[link]

In 1988 Abbott claimed, at a black studies conference in Philadelphia, that "the British invented racism."^[36][37][38]

In 1996, Abbott attracted widespread criticism when she claimed that at her local hospital "blonde, blue-eyed Finnish girls" were unsuitable as nurses because they had "never met a black person before".^[39] The secretary of the all-party Finland group of MPs, Conservative Ian Bruce responded by accusing her of using racial stereotypes, adding: "All Scandinavian countries have people from African and Caribbean countries living there. It shows ignorance to make such remarks."^[40]

Abbott referred to David Cameron and Nick Clegg as "two posh white boys from the Home Counties" in May 2010.^[41]

On 4 January 2012, Abbott tweeted that: "White people love playing 'divide and rule' We should not play their game", which again led to widespread criticism including accusations of racism.^[42] Only after being told by the Labour Party leadership that the comment was unacceptable did she apologise for "any offence caused", claiming that she had not intended to "make generalisations about white people".^[43][44] The Deputy Prime Minister called her comments a "stupid and crass generalisation". Nadhim Zahawi, Conservative MP, said ""This is racism. If this was a white member of Parliament saying that all black people want to do bad things to us he would have resigned within the hour or been sacked."^[45] Members of the public lodged complaints but the Metropolitan Police stated that no investigation would be launched and no charges would be brought against her, saying she "did not commit a criminal offence".^[46][47]

In January 2012 Abbott suggested that taxi drivers discriminate on racial grounds tweeting that she was “Dubious of [sic] black people claiming they’ve never experienced racism. Ever tried hailing a taxi I always wonder?” ^[48]

Personal life[link]

Abbott married Richard Thompson, an architect, in 1991; they divorced in 1993; they had one son together.^[5] Abbott chose her Conservative MP voting pair, Jonathan Aitken, as her son's godfather.^[49]

In 2007, Abbott began learning the piano under the tutelage of Paul Roberts, Professor of Piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, for the TV programme 'Play It Again'.^[50] She performed Chopin's Prelude No. 4 in E minor before an audience.^[50]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Diane Abbott

• Diane Abbott MP official constituency website
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
• Voting record at PublicWhip.org
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
• Articles authored at Journalisted
• Diane Abbott: You Ask The Questions The Independent, Feb 2010
• Diane Abbott New Statesman profile
• Diane Abbott at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with The Third Estate

Jeremy Abbott
Abbott at the 2009 Skate Canada.
Personal information
Full name	Jeremy Abbott
Country represented	United States
Born	(1985-06-05) June 5, 1985 (age 27) Aspen, Colorado
Residence	Detroit, Michigan
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Coach	Yuka Sato Jason Dungjen
Former coach	Tom Zakrajsek Becky Calvin Eddie Shipstad Jill Trenary Peggy Behr
Choreographer	Buddy and Benji Schwimmer, Yuka Sato, R. Campanella
Former choreographer	Antonio Najarro David Wilson Shae-Lynn Bourne Pasquale Camerlengo Tom Dickson Catarina Lindgren Damon Allen Christopher Dean Caroline Miller
Skating club	Detroit SC
Current training locations	Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Began skating	1987
World standing	5 (As of 29 April 2012 (2012 -04-29)[update])[1]
Season's bests	10 (2011–2012)[2] 12 (2010–2011)[3] 10 (2009–2010)[4] 3 (2008–2009)[5]
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	238.82 2011–2012 Grand Prix Final
Short program	86.98 2012 World Team Trophy
Free skate	159.46 2008–2009 Grand Prix Final
Medal record Competitor for United States Men's Figure skating Four Continents Championships Bronze 2007 Colorado Springs Men's Singles Bronze 2011 Taipei City Men's Singles Grand Prix Final Gold 2008–2009 Goyang Men's Singles

Jeremy Abbott (born June 5, 1985) is an American figure skater. He is the 2008 Grand Prix Final champion, a two-time (2007, 2011) Four Continents bronze medalist, and a three-time (2009, 2010, 2012) U.S. national champion. He represented the United States at the 2010 Winter Olympics, where he placed ninth.

Personal life[link]

Jeremy Abbott was born in Aspen, Colorado. He began skating at age two.^[6] He began competing at age four after seeing and becoming inspired by Robin Cousins.^[6]

Following his win on the junior level at 2005 US nationals, Abbott established a fund in Aspen, Colorado, to help up-and-coming skaters to pay for training.^[6] In 2006, he established a second fund for skaters in the surrounding area.^[7] In 2011, his Japanese fan club donated $1,000 dollars to his fund.^[8]

Abbott attended Cheyenne Mountain High School for five years, stretching his high school career out one year longer than the usual, so he could concentrate on both skating and getting good grades. ^[9] He graduated in 2004.^[10] His older sister, Gwen Abbott, was a nationally-ranked downhill skier who competed in the X Games as a ski racer.^[11] In addition to his coaches past and present, Jeremy Abbott often cites his family—mother Allison Scott, stepfather Allen Scott, father Danny Abbott and sister Gwen Abbott—as the pillars of his success.^[12]

Skating career[link]

Early career[link]

Abbott has competed in three figure skating disciplines. As a juvenile, he competed in ice dancing with Amanda Cunningham from 1995–1996 and with Katie Hoffmaster from 1997–1998. He competed as a pair skater with Brittany Vise in 1998–1999 and Krystal Sorenson from 2001–2002.

In 1999, Abbott moved from Aspen to Colorado Springs, Colorado to train at the Colorado Springs World Arena with Tom Zakrajsek.^[6] He began representing the Broadmoor Skating Club.

Abbott began competing in singles at the novice level in the 2000–2001 season, but failed to make it out of sectionals. The next year he made it to Nationals, where he placed 6th at the novice level.

For the 2002–2003 and 2004–2005 seasons, Abbott competed on the junior level nationally, though he did not make it to 2003 nationals at the junior level. He fractured his L5 vertebra in 2003, which kept him off the ice for fifteen weeks^[13] leading up to Regionals, yet he was able to win Regionals, and go on to place 7th at the 2004 U.S. Championships.

He won the Junior national title at the 2005 U.S. Championships. A remark he made during this competition, "Stranger things could happen; pigs could fly!", led him to adopt as his mascot a pig with wings, or a flying pig. Abbott made it the slogan of his charitable fund, which he started to give back to young male skaters struggling to pay coaching fees, ice time and competition fees.

Senior career[link]

Abbott was given his first senior international assignment in the 2005–2006 Olympic season, placing 18th at the 2005 Nebelhorn Trophy. Abbott, then, placed fifth at the very competitive Midwestern Sectionals, and just missed a chance to go on to Nationals and compete for an Olympic berth. Abbott later blamed his performance on his poor training habits,^[11] and said that he had become lazy after winning the junior national title; failing to make it out of sectionals gave him the motivation he needed.

In the 2006–2007 season, Abbott was given another international assignment, this time to the 2006 Finlandia Trophy, which he won. He won sectionals and advanced to Nationals, where he won the pewter medal, the highest placement for a first-timer in the senior men's event at nationals in twenty years. Abbott was named the first alternate to the World and Four Continents teams. When Johnny Weir withdrew from the 2007 Four Continents, Abbott was given the opportunity to compete at the event, which was held at his home rink, World Arena, Colorado Springs. He beat out U.S. silver medalist and training mate Ryan Bradley for the bronze medal.

In the 2007–2008 season, Abbott debuted on the Grand Prix circuit, placing 8th at the 2007 Skate Canada and 4th at the 2007 NHK Trophy. At the 2008 U.S. Championships, he again won the pewter medal. He placed 5th at the 2008 Four Continents. He was sent to the 2008 World Championships after Evan Lysacek withdrew with injury, and placed 11th.

In the 2008–2009 season, Abbott had a breakthrough season on the Grand Prix circuit. He won the 2008 Cup of China and placed fourth at the 2008 Cup of Russia to qualify for the 2008-2009 Grand Prix Final. He won the Grand Prix Final, becoming the first American man to do so, and achieved the highest total free skate score for an American man at that time.^[14] At the 2009 U.S. Championships in Cleveland, Abbott won both the short program and the free skate to win the gold medal. At the 2009 World Championships, Abbot placed 10th in both the short and long programs and 11th overall. In the off-season, he performed at the Festa On Ice show in South Korea, his first ice show in a foreign country.

Abbott began the 2009–10 season with a 5th place finish at the 2009 NHK Trophy. He then won the 2009 Skate Canada to qualify once again for the Grand Prix Final, where he placed fourth. At the 2010 U.S. Championships, Abbott won both segments of the competition to win the title overall, finishing 25 points ahead of the second place Evan Lysacek. He was named to the Olympic team. At the 2010 Olympics, Abbott placed 15th place in the short program, with a score of 69.40.^[15] Abbott earned a score of 149.56 in the free skate, placing 9th in that segment of the competition and moving up to place 9th overall. At the 2010 World Championships, he skated a strong short to place 6th in the segment. In the long program, he fell on the quad and double axel and placed 5th overall.

In the off-season, Abbott performed on the Stars on Ice tour. His training for the 2010-11 season was hampered by his first serious boot problems of his career.^[16][17] Abbott explained, "I could not get the blades mounted quite right, and they were never quite comfortable".^[18] He went through eight pairs of boots.^[16] The problems were resolved toward the end of the season.^[19]

In the 2011 U.S. Championships, Abbott was second after the short program but struggled through parts of his long program to finish fourth overall. He won his third pewter medal with a total score of 224.16, missing the bronze medal by just 0.19 points. The selection committee decided to leave him off the 2011 Worlds team, disappointing Abbott who thought the rules stated that other results would be taken into consideration.^[20][21] He was named to the team to the 2011 Four Continents instead, where he won the bronze medal behind Japanese skaters Daisuke Takahashi and Yuzuru Hanyu.

For the 2011–2012 Grand Prix season, Abbott was assigned to compete at 2011 Cup of China and 2011 Cup of Russia.^[19] He later said they were not the two he had asked for but that it had worked out well.^[20] He placed third in both programs at Cup of China and came away with the gold medal overall. At Cup of Russia, Abbott won the short program with a new personal best of 83.54 points. He was fifth in the free program and won the bronze medal overall. He qualified for his third Grand Prix Final.^[18]

At the 2012 U.S. Championships, Abbott placed first in both programs and won his third national title. He withdrew from the 2012 Four Continents due to back spasms and was replaced by 13th-placed Richard Dornbush.^[22][23] He won the silver medal at the 2012 Challenge Cup in The Hague.^[24]

Coaching changes[link]

In his early years, Abbott was coached by Peggy Behr in Aspen, Colorado. In 1999, he moved to Tom Zakrajsek in Colorado Springs, Colorado.^[6] In May 2009, he changed coaches to Yuka Sato in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.^[25] Abbott said he would continue training with Sato for the 2010–2011 season.^[26] In a November 2011 interview, he said he was seeing a sports psychologist once a week.^[20] He also works with Jason Dungjen.^[21]

Programs[link]

Abbott performs his exhibition at the 2008 U.S. Championships.

Competitive highlights[link]

Abbott and his fellow medalists at the 2008-2009 Grand Prix Final.

Senior results[link]

Pre-2005 results[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jeremy Abbott

• Official Site
• Jeremy Abbott at the International Skating Union
• Jeremy Abbott at the United States Figure Skating Association
• USA Fan Site

The Honourable Christopher Pyne MP
Manager of Opposition Business in the House
Incumbent
Assumed office 16 February 2009
Leader	Tony Abbott
Preceded by	Joe Hockey
Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 September 2008
Preceded by	Tony Smith
Minister for Ageing
In office 21 March 2007 – 3 December 2007
Preceded by	Santo Santoro
Succeeded by	Justine Elliot
Member of the Australian Parliament for Sturt
Incumbent
Assumed office 13 March 1993
Preceded by	Ian Wilson
Personal details
Born	(1967-08-13) 13 August 1967 (age 44) Adelaide, South Australia
Political party	Liberal Party of Australia
Spouse(s)	Carolyn Pyne
Alma mater	University of Adelaide University of South Australia
Occupation	Politician
Religion	Roman Catholic
Website	http://www.pyneonline.com.au

Christopher Maurice Pyne, MP (born 13 August 1967), Australian politician, has been a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives since 13 March 1993, representing the Division of Sturt, South Australia.^[1]

Early years[link]

Pyne was born in Adelaide, South Australia in 1967, and was educated at Saint Ignatius College, South Australia and the University of Adelaide, where he gained a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and was President of Adelaide University Liberal Club from 1987 to 1988.^[2][3] He was a research assistant to Senator Amanda Vanstone and later became President of the South Australian Young Liberals from 1988-1990. Pyne was then selected as the Liberal candidate for the state seat of Ross Smith—a very safe Labor seat—at the 1989 election, but was defeated by the sitting member and Premier of South Australia, John Bannon.^[4] He earned a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice at the University of South Australia and began practising as a solicitor in 1991. During this time he began working in Ian Wilson's Federal electoral office for Sturt.^[1]

Politics[link]

At the 1993 Australian federal election, aged 25, Pyne was elected to the Division of Sturt in the House of Representatives, becoming the youngest member of the Australian Parliament. He had earlier defeated Ian Wilson, who is 35 years Pyne's senior, in a pre-selection battle for the seat.^[1][5]

"Well Ian Wilson, my predecessor, he followed his father in the seat, Sir Keith Wilson, and in fact until I was preselected there’d never been anybody other than a Wilson preselected for the Liberal Party in Sturt, so I guess you could say it was a rather red letter day for the Liberal Party, and it was a contest that lasted for about 16 months from go to whoa; I nominated on a January 16th, and I was finally elected 3 March of the following year, so it was a very long process, involving some record-breaking aspects. We had more internal party appeals and investigations into the preselection than in the history of the Liberal Party, so it was quite exciting, and a bit stressful at times, but then anything that you want in life and in politics is always hard to come by; if it's worth having, then you have to fight for it."^[6]

Pyne is a republican^[7] and established himself as a member of the moderate faction in the South Australian wing of the Liberal party, supporting then Deputy Leader Peter Costello. In 1994, after serving a period in the backbenches, Pyne was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Minister for Social Security.^[3] He retained this position after John Howard was elected as leader, and up to the 1996 election.^[3]

After the Coalition victory at the 1996 election, Pyne remained in the backbench. In 2003, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Family and Community Services, where he remained until 2004, when named Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing.^[3] As Parliamentary Secretary, he defended the government's "War on drugs" and established his strong support of illicit drug prohibition, as opposed to harm minimisation.^[8] He remained as Parliamentary Secretary until 30 January 2007 when he was appointed Assistant Minister for Health and Ageing. He held this portfolio until 21 March, when he was appointed Minister for Ageing, succeeding resigning Minister, Senator Santo Santoro.^[1]

Pyne was also chairman of the Australia Israel Parliamentary group from 1996 to 2004.^[4]

2007 onward[link]

Pyne came close to losing Sturt at the 2007 federal election to Labor candidate Mia Handshin, after suffering a primary vote swing of 4.5 percent and a two-party swing of 5.9 percent, to finish with 50.9 percent of the two-party vote. Following the election in which the John Howard-led Coalition government was defeated by the Kevin Rudd-led Labor opposition, Pyne put himself forward as a candidate for Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party. In a ballot of Liberal parliamentary members, Julie Bishop prevailed with 44 votes, ahead of Andrew Robb, who won 25 votes, and Pyne 18 votes.^[9] Following the election of Brendan Nelson as party leader, Pyne was appointed Shadow Minister for Justice and Border Protection.^[10]

Following Malcolm Turnbull's election as Liberal Party Leader in September 2008, Pyne was elevated to the position of Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training.^[11] After Deputy Leader Julie Bishop stepped down from the portfolio of Shadow Treasurer, Joe Hockey took up the portfolio, with Pyne replacing Hockey as Manager of Opposition Business. This sparked anger within the coalition over claims Turnbull was stacking his ministry with moderate Liberal MPs, with conservative Liberal shadow parliamentary secretary Cory Bernardi being demoted by Turnbull^[12] over claims thought to be made regarding Pyne in Bernardi's weekly online blog, in which Bernardi recalled an encounter with a Liberal MP at the Royal Adelaide Golf Club, of which Pyne has been a member since 1988:^[13]

These allegations were strenuously denied by Pyne, stating that the idea of him joining another party was "preposterous".^[14]

In the first Question Time since the Victorian brush fires, Pyne called Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard a "foxy moron" after Gillard called him a "poodle." A few days later, The Advertiser drew a political cartoon showing Pyne's head on the body of a poodle.^[15]

Pyne was re-elected at the 2010 federal election, receiving a primary vote swing of 0.9 percent and a two-party swing of 2.5 percent, to finish with 53.4 percent of the two-party vote.^[16] In September 2010 he was re-appointed to the Tony Abbott Shadow Ministry as Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training and Manager of Opposition Business in the House of Representatives.^[17]

Personal life[link]

Christopher Pyne and his wife, Carolyn, have four children, two boys and two girls.

References[link]