Fifth National Government, 2008–2017 Adams was selected as the National Party candidate for the Selwyn seat for the
2008 general election after a contested selection. She won the seat with a comfortable majority, achieving 60% of the electorate votes cast. This compares with the National Party achieving 55% of party votes. In the , she won more than 70% of the electorate votes based on preliminary results. In her first term, she was a member (subsequently deputy chairperson and chairperson) of the
Finance and Expenditure Committee, and also chaired the Electoral Legislation Committee that considered legislation to replace the
Electoral Finance Act 2007. The bill required fundraising companies to disclose the proportion of funds they passed on to the charities they collect for. The bill passed and became the Fair Trading (Soliciting on Behalf of Charities) Amendment Act 2012. Adams was made Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee and the Electoral Legislation Committee for the final months of the 49th Parliament. When the National-led government won a second term in 2011, she was appointed to the Cabinet as
Minister of Internal Affairs, Minister for Communications and Information Technology, and Associate Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery. Following
Bill English's elevation to
Prime Minister in 2016, Adams also took on the roles of
Minister for Social Housing, Minister Responsible for Social Investment, Minister Responsible for
Housing New Zealand and
Associate Minister of Finance, in addition to retaining the justice and courts portfolios.
Opposition, 2017–2020 Following the formation of a
Labour-led coalition government after the
2017 general election, English resigned as party leader and Adams contested the
subsequent leadership election.
Simon Bridges was elected, with Adams considered the next closest contestant. She became National's finance spokesperson in
Bridges' Shadow Cabinet, ranked third in the caucus and served on the
Finance and Expenditure and Privileges select committees. On 22 January 2019, Adams was designated as the shadow
Attorney-General following the retirement of
Chris Finlayson. In June 2019, Adams announced that she would retire from politics at the
2020 general election, and that she would step down from her party spokesperson roles immediately. She was replaced as National's candidate in Selwyn by journalist
Nicola Grigg. While a backbencher, Adams was appointed deputy chair of the committee that considered the
Abortion Legislation Bill. On 2 July 2020, Adams assumed the drug reform portfolio from former National Party deputy leader
Paula Bennett, who announced that she would be retiring at the
upcoming election. As Grigg had already replaced Adams as Selwyn candidate, Adams was to have stood as a list-only candidate in the election but, after Muller was replaced in the leadership by
Judith Collins in July, Adams reconfirmed her decision to leave politics. She delivered her valedictory statement on 30 July 2020. == Later career ==