Cabinet minister

In Parliament, Gair came to be regarded as a competent and diligent administrator. He briefly became Minister of Customs in 1972^[9][10][8] at the end of the Second National government, but this was interrupted when National lost the 1972 election to the Labour Party under Norman Kirk. After National's defeat party leader Jack Marshall appointed Gair as Shadow Minister of Customs.^[11] Gair had supported Marshall for the leadership and liked him on a personal level, however by early 1974 had come to the belief that National would have a better chance of winning the next election under the then deputy leader Robert Muldoon. In the lead up to a leadership spill Gair advised Marshall that Muldoon had the numbers to win which led Marshall to retire from the leadership and not contest the leadership ballot.^[12] When Muldoon became leader he promoted Gair from 13th to 6th in the caucus rankings and switched him from Customs to Shadow Minister of Housing instead.^[13]

When National was returned to power in the 1975 election, Gair was returned to cabinet in the Third National government. Between that time and National's defeat in the 1984 election, Gair held a number of challenging portfolios, including serving as Minister of Health and Minister of Social Welfare. He also served as Minister of Housing, Minister of Energy, Minister of Transport, Minister of Railways and a number of other roles.^[14]

Political views

Gair also distinguished himself for some of his personal views. Gair, although a member of the country's main conservative party, generally adopted a "live and let live" approach to social and moral issues, rejecting what he saw as "intolerance" in some of his colleagues. These beliefs were especially noticeable when, in the late 1970s, Gair opposed measures to restrict abortion. Barry Gustafson, in his history of the National Party, called Gair "the most effective strategist of the parliamentary pro-abortion lobby".^[15]

Gair's support of abortion earned him the hostility of many National Party colleagues, including that of the party's leader, Robert Muldoon. Muldoon was already somewhat distrustful of Gair, as Gair had occasionally been spoken of as an alternative party leader. The political styles of Muldoon and Gair were radically different – Muldoon had a reputation as being tough and confrontational, while Gair was seen as polite and diplomatic. Some members of the party who disliked Muldoon's "dictatorial" style saw Gair as a possible alternative.^[15]

Colonels' Coup

In 1980, when a number of party dissidents began to plot against Muldoon's leadership, Gair was on the list of potential replacements.^[16] However, Gair was regarded as too liberal to gain majority support within the party. The dissidents eventually decided to encourage Brian Talboys, the party's deputy leader, to make a leadership bid (now called the "Colonels' Coup"). Gair was not involved in planning this bid, but was supportive of it, and worked hard to convince Talboys that a challenge was a good idea. In the end, however, Talboys bailed out, and the coup collapsed without a vote ever being taken. Gair continued to advocate a challenge, but Talboys was adamant that preserving party unity was more important than curbing Muldoon's damaging leadership style. Later, after Talboys had retired from politics, Gair supported another Muldoon opponent, Derek Quigley, to replace Talboys as deputy leader.^[17]

After National's defeat in 1984 Muldoon designated Gair Shadow Minister of Transport, Railways, Civil Aviation and Meteorological Services.^[18] Gair, among others, wished for Muldoon to be replaced as leader as soon as possible. This pressure resulted in a scheduled leadership election being brought forward from February 1985 to November 1984 despite Muldoon's objections. Gair, alongside Jim McLay, Jim Bolger and Bill Birch, entered the race to replace Muldoon as leader. However both Birch and himself were to drop out of contention prior to the election being held (with Gair's support generally transferring to McLay and Birch's to Bolger). Ultimately McLay was successful.^[19] Gair was appointed by McLay as Shadow Minister of Labour and Employment.^[20]

In a surprise reshuffle in February 1986, Gair (along with Muldoon ally Bill Birch) were demoted considerably.^[21] This was intended to make room for new, younger figures, who McLay hoped would "rejuvenate" the party. The move was highly damaging to McLay, however, as it placed both Gair and Birch directly in opposition to him. As two of the most experienced people in the National Party, the two were able to mobilise substantial support in favour of McLay's main rival, Jim Bolger.^[22] Bolger quickly defeated McLay, and Gair himself took the position of deputy leader.^[23] He was additionally given the coveted finance portfolio by Bolger.^[24]

Deputy leader

Shortly after Gair became deputy leader, he found himself at odds with a number of his colleagues once again. The Homosexual Law Reform Bill, a private bill by Labour's Fran Wilde to lift restrictions on homosexuality, was being hotly debated. Gair was somewhat ambivalent towards the bill, believing that while change was "long overdue", certain aspects of the bill went too far. On 2 July 1986, Gair's vote blocked a motion of closure on the bill, which would have brought it to a vote – because of bad weather, a number of the bill's supporters were unable to be in Parliament that day, and since a few votes could potentially decide the fate of the bill, Gair believed it unfair to let the vote go ahead. Had he voted for closure, the bill would probably have been defeated, and many of the bill's opponents therefore blamed Gair for its subsequent success. One week later, when the vote actually occurred, it passed only by a narrow majority – Gair himself eventually voted in favour. Gair found the entire episode highly stressful, and spoke of his desire for reconciliation.^[25][26]

Following National's loss at the 1987 election Gair was challenged for the position of deputy leader by Ruth Richardson. Rather than attempt to beat off the challenge, the genial Gair retired voluntarily and backed Bolger's preferred deputy Don McKinnon who narrowly defeated Richardson by a single vote to take his place as deputy leader.^[27] Deciding to retire at the end of the term, Gair opted to sit on the backbench. Bolger designated him as spokesperson for accident compensation.^[28]