Jack MConnell

The Right Honourable The Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale PC
Official portrait, 2019
First Minister of Scotland
In office 22 November 2001 – 16 May 2007
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Deputy	Jim Wallace Nicol Stephen
Preceded by	Henry McLeish Jim Wallace (Acting)
Succeeded by	Alex Salmond
Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland
In office 22 November 2001 – 15 August 2007
Deputy	Cathy Jamieson
UK party leader	Tony Blair Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Henry McLeish
Succeeded by	Wendy Alexander
Ministerial offices Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs In office 26 October 2000 – 22 November 2001 First Minister Henry McLeish Preceded by Sam Galbraith Succeeded by Cathy Jamieson Minister for Finance In office 19 May 1999 – 26 October 2000 First Minister Donald Dewar Jim Wallace (Acting) Preceded by Position established Succeeded by Angus MacKay
Parliamentary offices Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal Life peerage 28 June 2010 Member of the Scottish Parliament for Motherwell and Wishaw In office 6 May 1999 – 22 March 2011 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by John Pentland
Personal details
Born	Jack Wilson McConnell (1960-06-30) 30 June 1960 (age 61) Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland
Political party	Scottish Labour
Spouse(s)	Bridget McConnell
Children	2
Alma mater	University of Stirling
Profession	Teacher (Mathematics)

Jack Wilson McConnell, Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale, PC (born 30 June 1960) is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 2001 to 2007. McConnell served as the Minister for Finance from 1999 to 2000 and Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs from 2000 to 2001. He has been a Labour life peer in the House of Lords since 2010 and previously served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Motherwell and Wishaw from 1999 to 2011.

Born in Irvine, Ayrshire, McConnell studied at the University of Stirling and worked as a mathematics teacher at Lornshill Academy. His political career began when he was elected to the Stirling District Council, while he was still teaching. He served as a member of the Scottish Constitutional Convention, having campaigned in-favour for a Scottish Parliament in the 1997 devolution referendum. Elected to serve as an MSP for the Motherwell and Wishaw constituency in the 1999 Scottish Parliament election, McConnell was appointed Minister for Finance under the Donald Dewar government. After Dewar's death in 2000, he ran unsuccessfully for the leadership of the Labour Party in Scotland, having been defeated by Henry McLeish. McLeish appointed McConnell as Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs.

In 2001, McLeish resigned in the aftermath of the Officegate scandal and McConnell was elected unopposed as the Scottish Labour leader. He was appointed First Minister on 22 November 2001, becoming the youngest office holder. As first minister, he implemented a ban on smoking in public places, signed a Co-operation Agreement with Malawi, and successfully bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games to be hosted in Glasgow. In the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, the Labour Party in Scotland became the second largest party, with the SNP having one seat more. This therefore lead to McConnell losing office, becoming the first First Minister to have been defeated from office.

After losing office as first minister, McConnell sat as the Leader of the Opposition in Holyrood, until his resignation as leader. He sat as a backbencher and stood down as an MSP in the 2011 election. In 2010, McConnell became a member of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom. He made a commitment to continuing his work to tackle poverty in Africa and to develop the relationship between Scotland and Malawi.^[1]

This article is part of a series about Jack McConnell
1997 Scottish devolution referendum Scottish devolution Scottish Labour Party MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw Minister for Finance 1999 election Dewar cabinet Public Finance and Accountability Act 2000 Minister for Education Mcleish cabinet 2000 SQA examinations controversy First Minister of Scotland 2001 to 2007 First Ministry First cabinet Commonwealth Games bid Second Ministry 2003 re-election Second cabinet Scotland Malawi Partnership Fresh Talent Initiative Smoking Act 2005 Leader of the Opposition 2007 election defeat House of Lords Life peer Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale

Early life

Jack Wilson McConnell was born on 30 June 1960 in Irvine, Ayrshire. He was brought up on a sheep farm near Lamlash on the Isle of Arran, and educated at Arran High School.^[2]

Education

McConnell attended the University of Stirling, where he was President of the Students' Association from 1980 to 1982 and National Union of Students Scotland Vice-President from 1982 to 1983.^[3] He met Margo MacDonald and Richard Leonard at university. In the late 1970s, he occupied the principal's office in protest against student homelessness. He also took part in a siege to occupy the administration offices at the university and slept in sleeping bags in the university’s court room.^[4] He graduated in 1983 with a BSc Dip Ed.^[5]

Early career

After graduating, McConnell began work as a mathematics teacher at Lornshill Academy in Alloa, Clackmannanshire. He began his political career with his election to Stirling District Council. McConnell served on the council for eight years, while retaining his job at Lornshill. He served as Treasurer from 1988 until 1992, and was the Leader of the council from 1990 to 1992. McConnell became the General Secretary of the Labour Party in Scotland in 1992.^{[citation needed]}

Political career

Early political career

McConnell joined the Scottish National Party when he was 16 years old. After trying to come to terms with Scottish nationalism, he suspended his membership and joined the Labour Party at his first year at university when he was 19.^[4]

His major breakthrough was in his handling of the 1997 General Election success, where Labour attained a large overall majority victory over the Conservatives. Together the Labour Party in Scotland, the Scottish Liberal Democrats, and the Scottish National Party eliminated every seat the Conservatives held in Scotland. In 1998, he served as a member of the Scottish Constitutional Convention where he pioneered the Scottish devolution referendum success, establishing the Scottish Parliament.^{[citation needed]}

As a strong proponent of Scottish devolution, McConnell helped push for reform. Between 1989 and 1998 he was a member of the Scottish Constitutional Convention, where he was playing an important role in the creation of the Scotland Act, which created a Scottish Parliament for the first time.^{[citation needed]}

As General Secretary, he managed Labour Party in Scotland's successful YES YES devolution referendum campaign in 1997. Following the successful devolution campaign and the creation of a Scottish Parliament, McConnell was elected as an MSP, for Motherwell and Wishaw, in the first Scottish Parliament in May 1999.^{[citation needed]}

He was appointed immediately by Donald Dewar, the then First Minister, to the post of Minister of Finance. As Finance Minister one of his primary jobs was to establish the budgeting procedures for the new Scottish government, which included consulting the public on budget priorities. As Minister responsible for External Relations he established Concordats with the UK Government and opened Scotland House in Brussels.^{[citation needed]}

Finance Minister

McConnell was elected an MSP in the first Scottish Parliament elections in 1999. He was appointed Minister for Finance in the new Scottish Executive by then First Minister Donald Dewar. One of his first moves as Finance Minister was to establish the budgeting procedures for the new Scottish Executive, including publishing a consultation document asking the public and MSPs how the budget should be spent. His department also passed the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 through Parliament, which set out the finance and auditing procedures of the Executive.^[6]

Education, Europe and External Affairs

On 11 October 2000, Donald Dewar died of a brain haemorrhage. After the Labour leadership intervened to stop the Enterprise Minister Henry McLeish being appointed Dewar's successor without a vote, McConnell stood in the leadership contest. The election was held on Saturday 21 October, only 72 hours after Dewar's funeral, and the surprise result saw McConnell defeated with 36 votes to Henry McLeish's 44 votes.^{[citation needed]}

McLeish appointed him Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs.^[7] Some analysts considered this post to be a "poisoned chalice", as he would be required to resolve both a crisis in the Scottish Qualifications Authority over exam marking, and pay disputes with the teaching unions.^[8]

Leadership of the Scottish Labour Party

Henry McLeish resigned as First Minister on 8 November 2001 over the Officegate scandal, regarding the sub let of his constituency office. In the resulting search for a leader, McConnell was seen by many political analysts as the likely successor. He quickly emerged as the only candidate, and was elected unopposed as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party.^[9]

First Minister of Scotland

First term; 2001–2003

McConnell was nominated for the post of First Minister by a vote of the Scottish Parliament on 22 November, defeating Scottish National Party leader John Swinney, Scottish Conservative leader David McLetchie and Independent MSP Dennis Canavan by 70 votes to 34, 19 and 3 respectively.^[10][11] On 27 November, the Queen issued him a Royal Warrant of Appointment and he was sworn in at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.^[12] As a result of him becoming First Minister, he was appointed Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland and to the Privy Council, earning the title 'The Right Honourable' for life.^[13][14] McConnell continued to led the Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition that had existed under the Dewar and McLeish administrations.

Cabinet appointments

Shortly after being appointed McConnell began making appointments to his cabinet. Jim Wallace remained in the post of deputy first minister while Cathy Jamieson took over Mr McConnell's education brief and Wendy Alexander and Ross Finnie remained as ministers. Sam Galbraith and Angus MacKay stood down and Jackie Baillie, Sarah Boyack and Tom McCabe reshuffled out of government, while Susan Deacon was offered the post of social justice minister but refused the offer and moved to the backbenches. Cathy Jamieson, Mike Watson, Malcolm Chisholm, Iain Gray, Patricia Ferguson and Andy Kerr were all promoted to cabinet.^[15]

Sporting event bids

In February 2002, Scotland joined forces with the Republic of Ireland in a bid to host the 2008 European Football Championship.^[16] McConnell was initially unconvinced that it was worth spending around £100 million on the tournament, but he later put his support behind the joint bid with the Irish.

Although the bid lost out to Austria/Switzerland, McConnell later supported other attempts to land major supporting events including London's successful bid for the 2012 Olympic Games^[17] and Glasgow's bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.^[18]

Sectarianism

In December 2002, McConnell launched his government's campaign against sectarianism.^[19]

Second term; 2003–2007

McConnell was re elected MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw at the Scottish Parliament elections. The Labour Party in Scotland won 50 seats, the largest number, and formed another coalition government with the Liberal Democrats which won 17 seats. On 15 May, McConnell was re appointed First Minister of Scotland and on the same day the Scottish government published A Partnership for a Better Scotland which set out the government's priorities for the four-year term ahead.^{[citation needed]}

This was followed by the “Fresh Talent initiative” which was created and developed to focus at addressing the demographic decline in Scotland and ageing Scottish population by attracting young and skilled immigrants, primarily from other European Union countries (such as Poland and Slovakia primarily) to be attracted to Scotland as a place to live and work.

Public smoking ban

One of McConnell's most famous achievements during his tenure in government was the successful campaign to ban smoking in Scottish public places, such as pubs, public transport and restaurants, making Scotland the first country within the United Kingdom to do so, which lead to McConnell receiving praise for his leadership on this issue, ultimately leading other countries to follow.^[20]

McConnell attended the 31st G8 summit which was held in Gleneagles Hotel, Scotland, and welcomed guests invited to the conference to Glasgow Prestwick Airport on arrival.

2007 Scottish election

The Scottish Parliament general election of 3 May 2007 saw McConnell re elected as the MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw with a majority of 5,938 votes, representing 48% of the vote with a turnout of 50.3%. The Labour Party in Scotland was defeated by the SNP with the SNP winning 47 seats to Labour's 46, leaving the SNP short of an overall majority in the Parliament.^[21]

Resignation

McConnell left office as First Minister on 16 May 2007, when the Scottish Parliament elected Alex Salmond as his successor.^[22] On 17 May 2007, the SNP officially formed the first nationalist administration of the Scottish Government and McConnell became Leader of the Opposition.^[23] On 15 August 2007, McConnell announced his intention to resign as Scottish Labour Leader.^[24]

Post premiership

Backbench MSP

Following his defeat in the 2007 Scottish Parliament election and losing his position as First Minister, McConnell continued to sit as the MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw until the 2011 Election. On 28 May 2010, it was announced that McConnell would be made a life peer and enter the House of Lords as a working peer on behalf of the Labour Party.^[25]

House of Lords

On 28 June 2010, he was created a life peer as Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale, of the Isle of Arran in Ayrshire and Arran,^[26] and was introduced in the House of Lords the same day.^[27] In August 2010 he announced that he would not be seeking re-election to the Scottish Parliament.^[28]

Other positions

McConnell was widely predicted to take the position of British High Commissioner to Malawi when it became vacant in 2009, having taken an interest in the development of the country during his time as First Minister. In August 2007, he was appointed an adviser to the Clinton Hunter Development Initiative in Malawi and Rwanda, and in October 2008, he was appointed by Gordon Brown as the Prime Minister's Special Representative on Conflict Resolution Mechanisms, a position which ceased following the 2010 General election.^{[citation needed]}

He is a UK Ambassador for Action for Children; a Fellow of the 48 Group Club, which promotes relationships between the United Kingdom and China and an Ambassador for Pump Aid. On 8 March 2012, Optical Express announced the appointment of Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale joining the Board as non executive director.^[29] He was a non executive director at DCM (Optical Holdings) from 2011 to 2015.^[30] As of 30 November 2018 McConnell holds the position of Chancellor at the University of Stirling.^[31]

Personal life

In November 2001, as he prepared to succeed Henry McLeish, he told a media conference some details regarding an extra marital affair that he had been involved in seven years previously.^[32] McConnell is married to Bridget McConnell, Scottish cultural administrator and current Chief Executive Officer of Glasgow Life (the charity responsible for delivering culture and sport in Glasgow).^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Politics of Scotland
• List of Scottish Executive Ministerial Teams
• Bute House

References

Sources

• Davidson, Lorraine. Lucky Jack: Scotland's First Minister (2005), Black and White Publishing.

External links

• Scottish Parliament profiles of MSPs: Jack McConnell

Scottish Parliament
New parliament Scotland Act 1998	Member of the Scottish Parliament for Motherwell and Wishaw 1999–2011	Succeeded by John Pentland
Political offices
New office	Minister for Finance 1999–2000	Succeeded by Angus MacKay as Minister for Finance and Local Government
Preceded by Sam Galbraith as Minister for Children and Education	Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs 2000–2001	Succeeded by Cathy Jamieson as Minister for Education and Young People
Preceded by Jim Wallace Acting	First Minister of Scotland 2001–2007	Succeeded by Alex Salmond
Party political offices
Preceded by Henry McLeish	Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland 2001–2007	Succeeded by Wendy Alexander
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by The Lord Boateng	Gentlemen Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale	Followed by The Lord Touhig