A member of the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe from 1983 to 1990, he served as the Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement from 1988 to 1990.
[6] Makoni, a conservative farming area, was one of 20 seats in Parliament reserved for whites per the Lancaster House Agreement.
[5][6] Kay's election caused Opposition Leader Ian Smith's conservative Republican Front party to lose its majority of the white roll seats in Parliament.
[6] In 1985, he won reelection to Parliament in Makoni, this time running as a member of the Independent Zimbabwe Group, a coalition of white moderates.
On 28 July 1987, Kay crossed the aisle to join Prime Minister Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU–PF party, along with two other white MPs, John Landau and Tony Read.
[citation needed] As deputy minister, Kay focused on promoting irrigation[11] and combating soil loss through erosion.