[4] In this post, he travelled to Spain with John McGovern, in order to investigate the role of the Catholic Church in the Spanish Civil War.
[5] When McGovern returned to Scotland, McNair remained in Barcelona, running the ILP's political office, and making arrangements for the arrival of British volunteers to fight with the POUM;[6] these included George Orwell, whom McNair met on Orwell's arrival.
[8][full citation needed] McNair was elected as General Secretary of the ILP in 1939, in which capacity he evacuated the party offices to Glasgow.
[4][9] While holding the post, he stood in the 1943 Bristol Central by-election, taking 7.3% of the vote, and wrote an official biography of James Maxton, entitled The Beloved Rebel.
[10] In 1955, McNair retired from the General Secretaryship, and returned to Tyneside, when he completed a degree at the University of Durham[1] in French and English history, and Greek and Roman culture.