Former prime minister. Conservative warrior. Proud budgie smuggler wearer.

The man who once described himself as the "ideological love child" of John Howard and Bronwyn Bishop has been a polarising political player for 25 years.

Now Tony Abbott is farewelling Federal Parliament and the seat of Warringah after independent Zali Steggall comprehensively ended his hold on the electorate in Sydney's north.

Ms Steggall swept to victory, taking 58 per cent of the two-party preferred vote, with Mr Abbott suffering a swing against him of almost 20 per cent.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 9 minutes 57 seconds 9 m Tony Abbott's full concession speech in Warringah

Speaking to his supporters on Saturday night, Mr Abbott said he would rather be a "loser than a quitter".

"I have to say that once we had the result in the Wentworth by-election six months or so back, I always knew it was going to be tough here in Warringah," he said.

"And I can't say that it doesn't hurt to lose.

"But I decided back then, in October of last year, that if I had to lose, so be it."

Tony Abbott says goodbye last night, with his wife Margie by his side. ( AAP: Bianca De Marchi )

When the writing was on the wall, Mr Abbott dug in deeper — a decision that led the Liberal Party to be the eventual loser in Warringah.

Yet, Mr Abbott's call to stick to his guns in the face of a challenge wouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone who had followed his political career.

When he entered Parliament in 1994, Mr Abbott, a Rhodes scholar, was already a brutally effective politician who cut his teeth during the fierce student politics that divided Sydney University in the 1980s.

He quickly became a darling of the Liberal Party's conservative wing, championing family values and moving swiftly into roles as a journalist and political adviser.

Aggressive political style

Within four years of being elected in Warringah he was on John Howard's frontbench, where he earned the nickname "Howard's Headkicker" for his aggressive parliamentary style.

His brief stint training as a priest and his reputation as a conservative hardliner later saw political opponents dub him "The Mad Monk", as he backed the monarchist cause during the 1999 referendum on whether Australia should become a republic.

Mr Abbott during his boxing days at Oxford University. ( Supplied )

The former amateur boxer approached politics like a contact sport, never shying away from a fight.

It came to the fore in his time as health minister in the Howard government, when he stirred controversy by describing abortion as "the easy way out" and tried to block access to the "next day" pregnancy termination pill RU486.

His time in health — like much of his political career — was divisive, yet he was praised for increasing bulk-billing rates, which led Mr Abbot to claim the Coalition was "Medicare's greatest friend".

After the Coalition was swept from power in the 2007 Labor landslide, Mr Abbott campaigned aggressively against then-Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull's climate change policies.

That eventually led to the 2009 leadership ballot, which Mr Abbott won by just one vote.

Some pundits maintain it also set the scene for an ideological turf war between the Liberal Party's moderate and conservative wings that plagued it for much of the subsequent decade.

Not long after becoming leader, Mr Abbott famously declared that climate change was "absolute crap".

Those words would come back to haunt him this year, as he fought desperately to hold on to his seat of Warringah, where much of the electorate was demanding action on global warming.

Mr Abbott has since distanced himself from those 2009 comments, telling the ABC's Juanita Phillips last week that the campaign against him was part of a "massive push" by left groups to claim his "very high-profile scalp".

The Member for Warringah was a regular at the beaches in his electorate. ( Supplied )

Shortly after taking over as opposition leader in 2009, Mr Abbott's fitness regime — which included triathlons, cycling and surf lifesaving — helped mould his image as a man of action.

It also spawned the image he is best known for: Tony and the red budgie-smugglers.

He used the same energy to go after the Labor government during his time as Opposition leader, punching out effective three-word slogans like "Axe the tax" and "Stop the boats".

The relentless attacks were seen as a major contributor to Labor's decision to depose then-prime minister Kevin Rudd, and in 2010 the Abbott-led Coalition came close to toppling Julia Gillard's first-term administration.

Ms Gillard clung to power with the support of the Greens and two independent MPs, but Abbott's strategy had worked.

As he slowly chipped away at the Labor government, he earnt the new nickname "Doctor No", for his refusal to negotiate with Ms Gillard's team.

While he honed his attacks, his years as opposition leader were also filled with gaffes and bizarre moments.

Mr Abbott copped blowback when he was caught on camera in October 2010 on a visit to Australian troops in Afghanistan, saying "shit happens" after being told about a soldier who had been killed.

When confronted with the video by Channel Seven's political editor Mark Riley, Mr Abbott went mute for more than 20 seconds, nodding and blinking with barely concealed rage.

That same year, Mr Abbott was accused of being sexist when he said the "housewives of Australia" should understand the impact of the carbon tax "as they do the ironing".

Comments about the "sex appeal" of female Liberal candidate Fiona Scott fuelled suggestions he had a woman problem, however he countered that by pointing to the fact he had a female Chief of Staff, Peta Credlin.

In 2011, he was widely condemned for speaking at a protest outside Parliament House while standing underneath placards branded with anti-Gillard slogans, including "Ditch the Witch."

The next year, Ms Gillard unleashed a blistering attack on Mr Abbott from the dispatch box in which she accused him of being a misogynist.

"I will not be lectured about sexism and misogyny by this man," Ms Gillard told the parliament.

"If he wants to know what misogyny looks like in modern Australia, he doesn't need a motion in the House of Representatives, he needs a mirror."

While Ms Gillard enjoyed a brief bump in the polls, her leadership was terminal.

Mr Abbott addresses the protest outside Parliament House. ( AAP: Alan Porritt )

By the time of the 2013 election Labor had made a desperate last-minute switch of leaders back to Mr Rudd.

A decisive victory

Opinion polls showed Mr Abbott was deeply unpopular with voters, but his ability to capitalise on the internal Labor chaos saw him lead the Coalition to a decisive victory.

He became the nation's 28th Prime Minister, telling Australians in his victory speech "we will not let you down".

He promised he would lead a "no surprises government" and set about delivering his promises to stop asylum-seeker boats, and get rid of the carbon and mining taxes.

He wanted to be known as the "infrastructure prime minister" and backed major road projects such as the upgrade of the Bruce Highway.

Although highly contentious, the introduction of Mr Abbott's boat turnback policy saw the number of boat arrivals in Australia almost disappear, from 300 in 2013 to one in 2014.

Mr Abbott with then-shadow immigration minister Scott Morrison make a point to the press. ( AAP: Dan Peled )

The business community generally backed his move to scrap the two taxes, with electricity prices dropping as a result of his decision to axe the carbon tax.

But winning over the public was another story, and it wasn't long after its 2013 victory that his Coalition started floundering in the opinion polls.

The Abbott government's 2014 budget, its first, included significant cost-saving measures.

However, it broke key election promises of "no cuts to health, no cuts to education ... no cuts to the ABC".

Other big backflips followed like the prime minister's decision to dump the signature paid parental leave scheme he'd taken to the election.

Mr Abbott was criticised internally for not consulting with backbenchers, with some accusing him of giving his Chief of Staff, Ms Credlin, too much control over cabinet affairs.

His widely ridiculed "captain's call" to bring back knights and dames to the Australian honours system was also seen as damaging.

This decision to eat a raw onion was among Mr Abbott's most puzzling moments. ( ABC News )

Tide starts to turn

By February 2015, the rumblings against Mr Abbott exploded into an attempt to topple his leadership.

He survived the ballot 61-39 but promised colleagues he would learn from the "near-death experience" and change his ways.

There was plenty of front-page fodder amid the chaos.

In March 2015 footage of him inexplicably tucking into an onion, skin and all, while touring a farm in Tasmania went viral.

Colleagues continued to question his judgement as he supported his "political godmother" speaker Bronwyn Bishop through the damaging "choppergate" scandal in July.

Two months later, the Coalition had sustained 30 consecutive Newspoll losses, and Mr Turnbull moved in for the kill.

Mr Abbott's old political foe urged his colleagues to support a "new style of leadership that respects people's intelligence".

Mr Turnbull won the ballot 54 votes to 44.

Tony Abbott and then communications minister Malcolm Turnbull during question time. ( AAP: Daniel Munoz )

On Twitter, people started a hashtag #putoutyouronions in mock tribute to Mr Abbott.

In his final press conference in the nation's top job, he promised "there will be no wrecking, no undermining, no sniping".

But over the next three years he deviated from that and stirred discontent against the man who had taken his position in The Lodge.

In his time as a backbencher, the strict Catholic faced criticism for campaigning against same-sex marriage — something that put him at odds with his gay sister Christine Forster.

Last year after Mr Turnbull was rolled there were mounting calls from senior party elders for Mr Abbott — who many saw as an architect behind the ousting — to quit politics.

They said he should retire to allow factional divisions to heal and give the Coalition a chance at the 2019 election.

"My determination is to continue to make a contribution to public life and the best place to do that is in the parliament," he said last week.

How Tony Abbott is remembered will depend on your political leanings — a hero to some, a villain to others.

But in the end his strident beliefs and combative style — characteristics seen as a positive during his rise to power — became deciding factors in his downfall.

But perhaps his former deputy Julie Bishop said it best during last night's coverage on Channel Nine.

"You have to be alive to the aspirations and thoughts of your electorate and major issues," she said.

"To them ... Tony was not on the same page."