Julie Bishop contested the deputy leadership position, as did Andrew Robb and Christopher Pyne. Brendan Nelson was elected leader by 45 votes to 42, and Julie Bishop was elected deputy leader. A Newspoll survey taken after the Liberal leadership change revealed a preferred-prime-minister rating of Rudd 61 per cent to Nelson 14 per cent, with Turnbull twice as popular as Nelson. Newspoll's subsequent polling saw new Newspoll records set, at 70 per cent for the best rating for preferred prime minister, to 9 per cent for the worst rating for preferred prime minister, with the next poll results revealing another record of 73 to 7 per cent. A new two party preferred record was also set, at 63 to 37 per cent Labor's way. Post-election, ALP secretary Tim Gartrell commented on pre-election campaign billboard ads featuring a picture of John Howard stating "Working families in Australia have never been better off", which looked like Liberal Party advertisements, were actually paid for by the Labor Party. Liberal leader Brendan Nelson declared that the Liberal Party had listened and learned from the Australian public and declared WorkChoices "dead". In 2008, former ministers Peter McGauran, Alexander Downer, and Mark Vaile resigned from parliament, sparking Gippsland, Mayo, and Lyne by-elections. The Lyne by-election resulted in independent Rob Oakeshott being elected, reducing the total number of Coalition seats to 64. Bradfield and Higgins by-elections were held in December 2009. In September 2008, Malcolm Turnbull replaced Brendan Nelson in a leadership spill, and Barnaby Joyce replaced CLP Senator and Nationals deputy leader Nigel Scullion as leader of the Nationals in the Senate, and moved the party to the crossbenches. Joyce stated that his party would no longer necessarily vote with their Liberal counterparts in the upper house. In Popular Culture The comedy band The Axis of Awesome parodied the events of the election in a song. See also Australian electoral system List of political parties in Australia Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives Climate change in Australia Notes References External links Official Parliament of Australia – Election Timetable Australian Electoral Commission Australian Senate 2007 ballot papers and preference flows Media ABC Online: 2007 Federal Election The Crikey Guide to the 2007 Election Unofficial Sites AustralianPolitics.com: 2007 Federal Election The Poll Bludger – Federal Election 2007 OzPolitics – Australian Federal Election 2007 Adam Carr's Guide to the 2007 Federal Election Possums Pollytics Simon Jackman's 2007 Election