The abrupt termination of Kevin Michael Rudd’s prime ministership on 24 June 2010, with a federal election due within 9 months, created a risk for the Labor government. When losing party leadership, he retained the seat of Griffith. He served the final months of the 42nd Parliament on the backbenches.

At the federal election in August 2010, Rudd comfortably retained his Queensland seat for the Labor Party. As widely predicted, he was rewarded with the Foreign Affairs portfolio by the new Prime Minister, Julia Gillard.

In his first 4 months as Foreign Minister, he made official visits to 20 countries, including Pakistan, United States, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Brazil, Chile, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, China, South Korea, Belgium and Italy. The ‘Kevin 07’ tag of the election campaign that won him office soon became ‘Kevin 747’ as both the intense pace of his overseas travels and his prominence in international affairs accelerated.

Rudd resigned as Minister for Foreign Affairs on 22 February 2012 and moved to the backbench.

He was sworn in as Prime Minister for a second time on 27 June 2013.