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He was elected to the Adelaide Hills seat of Mayo in 1984<ref>http://www.etan.org/et2008/7july/05/03adownr.htm</ref>. He served in various shadow cabinet position, becoming Leader of the Opposition in 1994. During his time in opposition he made many controversial decisions including addressing the far-right group League of Rights meeting in 1987 thinking it was a Christian rally<ref>http://richardtonkinsnippets.blogspot.com/2006/04/downers-career-battered-strangled.html</ref>. His most famous mistake was as Leader of the Opposition when he joked after the launch of the "Things that Matter" policy, that they would call the Liberal Party's policy on domestic violence "Things that Batter". Afterwards poor opinion polling and low party donations accumulated in a meeting of Howard, [[Peter Costello]] and Downer in which they agreed for Downer to hand over the party's leadership to Howard without a formal challenge.

He was elected to the Adelaide Hills seat of Mayo in 1984<ref>http://www.etan.org/et2008/7july/05/03adownr.htm</ref>. He served in various shadow cabinet position, becoming Leader of the Opposition in 1994. During his time in opposition he made many controversial decisions including addressing the far-right group League of Rights meeting in 1987 thinking it was a Christian rally<ref>http://richardtonkinsnippets.blogspot.com/2006/04/downers-career-battered-strangled.html</ref>. His most famous mistake was as Leader of the Opposition when he joked after the launch of the "Things that Matter" policy, that they would call the Liberal Party's policy on domestic violence "Things that Batter". Afterwards poor opinion polling and low party donations accumulated in a meeting of Howard, [[Peter Costello]] and Downer in which they agreed for Downer to hand over the party's leadership to Howard without a formal challenge.

After the landslide election in 1996 Downer became foreign minister, a position he for a record of 11 an a half years. One of the key features of his time was the re-strengthening of ties with the [[United States of America]] which had been neglected by the [[Bob Hawke|Hawke]] and [[Paul Keating|Keating]] Governments which had primarily focused on Asia. Downer is credited with being a master of foreign affairs as he was able to do this, as well as getting Australia a seat at Association of Southeast Asian Nations, something Australia has not had since the organization was formed in 1967. Downer was a strong support of both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

After the landslide election in 1996 Downer became foreign minister, a position he for a record of 11 and a half years. One of the key features of his time was the re-strengthening of ties with the [[United States of America]] which had been neglected by the [[Bob Hawke|Hawke]] and [[Paul Keating|Keating]] Governments which had primarily focused on Asia. Downer is credited with being a master of foreign affairs as he was able to do this, as well as getting Australia a seat at Association of Southeast Asian Nations, something Australia has not had since the organization was formed in 1967. Downer was a strong support of both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

On July the 3rd 2008, following the defeat at the November 2008 election, Downer announced his retirement from politics and said he would give his resignation as the Member for Mayo to the Governor-General on the 14th of July<ref>http://www.alexanderdowner.com.au/Pages/Article.aspx?ID=2366</ref>. Following his retirement he was made Visiting Professor of International Politics at the University of Adelaide's School of History & Politics<ref>http://www.adelaide.edu.au/adelaidean/issues/28301/news28381.html</ref> by the Vice Chancellor Professor James McWha. The position entitles him to call himself Professor Downer.

On July the 3rd 2008, following the defeat at the November 2008 election, Downer announced his retirement from politics and said he would give his resignation as the Member for Mayo to the Governor-General on the 14th of July<ref>http://www.alexanderdowner.com.au/Pages/Article.aspx?ID=2366</ref>. Following his retirement he was made Visiting Professor of International Politics at the University of Adelaide's School of History & Politics<ref>http://www.adelaide.edu.au/adelaidean/issues/28301/news28381.html</ref> by the Vice Chancellor Professor James McWha. The position entitles him to call himself Professor Downer.