Shortly after National's electoral loss, Jim McLay replaced Muldoon as leader of the National Party and he appointed Richardson education spokesperson. In February 1986 there was a considerable rearrangement of responsibilities in the opposition. People such as Bill Birch and George Gair, who McLay associated with the Muldoon era, were demoted. They were replaced by newer MPs, such as Richardson and Simon Upton, who McLay believed would help revitalise the party. This move proved fatal to McLay personally, however, as the sacked Birch and Gair allied themselves with McLay's rival, Jim Bolger. Bolger ousted McLay and became party leader.