Editing Murray McCully (section)

=== Opposition, 1999–2008 ===
The National Party lost government at the 1999 general election and did not regain the treasury benches until 2008. During nine years of opposition, McCully held various opposition spokesperson roles including in the local government, housing, sport, state services, immigration, foreign affairs and defence portfolios.

McCully is understood to have been a key player in many of the leadership changes the National Party experienced while in opposition. McCully supported [[Bill English]] to replace Jenny Shipley as National Party leader in the [[2001 New Zealand National Party leadership election]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Shipley's night of long knives|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/shipleys-night-of-long-knives/622O5N24UOXZPHH22QYAEYHMYM/|access-date=2020-11-03|website=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |language=en-NZ}}</ref> [[Don Brash]] to replace English in [[2003 New Zealand National Party leadership election|2003]], and [[Gerry Brownlee]] to replace [[Nick Smith (New Zealand politician)|Nick Smith]] as deputy leader in 2003.<ref>{{Cite web|title=McCully at centre of Nats whisper row|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/mccully-at-centre-of-nats-whisper-row/3JZMH2CXZGIFT225BIUOIVYBME/|access-date=2020-11-03|website=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |language=en-NZ}}</ref> McCully was appointed "parliamentary assistant" to Brash and was reportedly the only MP Brash told about his decision to stand down in 2006.<ref>{{Cite web|last=The Letter Limited|title=The Letter – Wednesday, 29 November 2006|url=https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0611/S00490/the-letter-wednesday-29-november-2006.htm|access-date=2020-11-03|website=www.scoop.co.nz}}</ref>[[File:Rimbink Pato, Julia Bishop and Murray McCully August 2014.jpg|thumb|left|Papua New Guinean Foreign Minister [[Rimbink Pato]] (left), Australian Foreign Minister [[Julie Bishop]] (center) and New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully (right) at SIDS, in August 2014.]]