Jack McConnell
Jack McConnell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 3rd First Minister of Scotland | |
| Assumed office 22 November, 2001 | |
| Deputy | Jim Wallace (1999-2005), then Nicol Stephen (from 23 June 2005) |
| Preceded by | Henry McLeish |
| Constituency | Motherwell and Wishaw |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 30, 1960 Irvine, Ayrshire |
| Political party | Labour |
Jack Wilson McConnell (born June 30, 1960 in Irvine, North Ayrshire) is the First Minister of Scotland, leader of the Scottish Labour Party and Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Motherwell and Wishaw constituency. As First Minister, he is also the Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland.
McConnell became an MSP in the first elections to the Scottish Parliament in 1999, later holding the positions of Finance Minister, and Education Minister. He became First Minister upon the resignation of his predecessor Henry McLeish, and led the Scottish Labour Party to its second election victory in the 2003 election.
Background and family
McConnell was born in Irvine and raised on a sheep farm near Lamlash on the Isle of Arran. He attended Arran High School and later went on to study at the University of Stirling, graduating with a BSc Dip Ed. He was also President of the Students' Association[1].
After graduating in 1983 he began work as a mathematics teacher at Lornshill Academy in Alloa, Clackmannanshire (a position he retained throughout his subsequent council service).
Aged sixteen, he joined the Scottish National Party [2], but later resigned his membership, becoming a vocal opponent of Scottish independence in later life. He is a member of the GMB Union and Amnesty International.
He is married to Bridget McConnell, and has two adopted children from that marriage- Hannah and Mark. Bridget is the Director of Cultural and Leisure Services at Glasgow City Council.[3]
Early Political career
McConnell's political career began 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 Scottish Labour Party in 1992. His major breakthrough was in his handling of the 1997 General Election success, where Labour attained a landslide victory over the Conservatives. Together the Scottish Labour Party and the Scottish National Party managed to eliminate 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.
Member of the Scottish Parliament
Finance Minister
McConnell was elected an MSP in the first Scottish Parliament elections in 1999. He was appointed Finance Minister 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 consulatation 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.[4]
He was involved in one of the first scandals to hit the new Parliament when he was called to appear before the standards committee during an investigation into newspaper allegations that the lobbying arm of public relations company Beattie Media had privileged access to ministers.[5] The committee later cleared McConnell of any wrongdoing and declared there was no evidence he had been influenced from lobbying by Beattie Media.[6]
During his time as Finance Minister, McConnell clashed with the Minister of Health and Community Care, Susan Deacon over the budget allocated to health, and the rows soon became public knowledge. Supporters of both camps would conduct secret media briefings against the other, prompting Donald Dewar to threaten to sack any Minister or aide who briefs the media against another member of the Executive.[7]
Education, Europe and External Affairs
Upon Dewar’s death in 2000, he contested Henry McLeish for the position of First Minister, but lost out in the ballot. McLeish later appointed him Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs.[8] 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.[9]
Election for First Minister
McLeish was forced to resign 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.[10]. McConnell quickly emerged as the only candidate, but made a surprising admission that he had cheated on his wife Bridget by having an affair with a party worker in 1994, stating he wished to "clear the air" and avoid any innuendo during his time in office. He announced the affair with his wife by his side at a press conference. [11]
He was elected First Minister by the Parliament on 22 November, 2001, and was formally appointed into office by Queen Elizabeth II on 26 November, 2001. [12]
First Minister
First Term
A few days after his appointment, on 27 November, 2001- McConnell carried out a contraversial reshuffle of the Cabinet, axing 5 Ministers: Angus MacKay, Sarah Boyack, Tom McCabe and Jackie Baillie, and demoting Susan Deacon (she later resigned rather than accept the new post).[13]. The move was controversial as he axed nearly all of the ministers judged to be loyal to McLeish and other figures in the party leading The Sun to dub him “Jack The Ripper”.
In February 2002, Scotland joined forces with the Republic of Ireland in a bid to host the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship.[14] McConnell was initially unconvinced that it was worth spending around £100 million on the tournament, however he later put his support behind the joint bid with the Irish. Although the bid lost out to Switzerland, McConnell later supported other attempts to land major supporting events including London's successful bid for the 2012 Olympic Games [15] and Glasgow's bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games[16].
In May 2002, Wendy Alexander, the Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning, and the only Minister not to have been sacked in the reshuffle, resigned. Many analysts speculated that Alexander, believed to be a close ally of Gordon Brown, had poor relations with McConnell.[17]
The end of his first term as First Minister was rocked by a scandal known as "Wishawgate"- when auditors discovered accounting irregularities in the accounts of his Motherwell and Wishaw constituency.[18] The Scottish Labour Party later admitted that union cash in excess of £1,000 had been donated to the constituency and not declared, a breach of the Electoral Commission's rules. McConnell and Frank Roy (the MP for the constituency in the House of Commons) were cleared of any wrongdoing after an internal investigation, however the constituency's teasurer admitted embezzling £11,000 from party funds.[19]
Second Term
Much of the election campaign for the 2003 elections took place during the invasion of Iraq. At the launch of the election campaign, McConnell made a plea that the polls should not be turned into a referendum on the war in Iraq. However, although losing 6 seats in the election, McConnell was re-elected as First Minister, with another term of coalition with the Scottish Liberal Democrats. In the reshuffle following the 2003 election, McConnell axed 2 minister posts, although increased the size of the Scottish cabinet from 10 to 11.[20]
On 6 July, 2005, the 31st G8 summit was held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Perth and Kinross. McConnell formally welcomed all the G8 leaders (with the exception of Tony Blair) as they arrived in Scotland at Glasgow Prestwick International Airport. He also hosted a dinner for African leaders and International dignitaries including Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan. [21]
In November 2006, he celebrated the 5th anniversary as First Minister. An internal document obtained by The Observer, revealed what McConnell believed to be his major achievements during his 5 years as: the Fresh Talent initiative and the reverse of Scotland's population decline; banning smoking in enclosed public spaces in Scotland; taking measures to reduce sectarianism; and continuing aid to Malawi[22]
In December 2006 McConnell was interviewed by the Metropolitan Police in London in connection with their 'cash for honours' investigation.[23]
2007 election
In the run-up to the 2007 Scottish Parliamentary Elections, McConnell was criticised by many inside and outside of the Labour party for his role in the party's poor start to the campaign,[24] with Labour solidly behind the Scottish National Party in most opinion polls. He initially refused to debate with the SNP's leader, Alex Salmond, and was the only leader of any major Scottish political party not to appear on the February 22 edition of the BBC programme Question Time. He has since agreed to a televised debate but only during the official election campaign.
Criticism
In 2006 he caused controversy in the London press with his statement that he would be supporting Trinidad and Tobago at the World Cup in Germany instead of England.
McConnell has also been criticised for resorting to the so-called Sewell motion, which effectively bypasses responsibility, and passes legislation to the parliament in Westminster.
References
- ^ Scotland.gov.uk- Jack McConnell MSP
- ^ Scotsman- "How Jack the lad joined SNP ... and ended up in THAT kilt"
- ^ Scotsman.com- "Bridget McConnell in arts fund plea"
- ^ Public Finance- "Edinburgh gives public say in £16.2bn budget"
- ^ BBC News- "Scotland Minister to appear before standards watchdog"
- ^ BBC News- "Scotland Standards watchdog clears McConnell"
- ^ Public Finance- 14/07/2000
- ^ SE2783/2000- FIRST MINISTER ANNOUNCES NEW MINISTERIAL TEAM
- ^ BBC News- Jack McConnell profile
- ^ BBC News- "Search begins for new first minister"
- ^ Scotsman.com- Wife tells of betrayal over McConnell affair
- ^ Scotsman.com- "McLeish stays away from his successor’s election"
- ^ Edinburgh Evening News- "New look at the top as Jack swings axe"
- ^ Scottish Executive news release- "Joint Euro 2008 bid goes ahead"
- ^ London 2012-"Scots' First Minister 'Backs the Bid'"
- ^ Glasgow City Council
- ^ Guardian Unlimited- "Brown ally in shock resignation"
- ^ Scotsman.com- "McConnell's constituency faces accounts inquiry"
- ^ BBC News- "Labour activist embezzled party"
- ^ BBC News- "McConnell names new cabinet"
- ^ Scotland.gov.uk- G8
- ^ Five years on, and the verdict on the First Minister is: he's all right, Jack The Observer article
- ^ "Honours police quizzed McConnell", BBC Scotland, 23 January 2007
- ^ "McConnell is adding to the sense of panic". The Scotsman. Johnston Press plc. 2007-03-03. Retrieved 2007-03-03.
See also
External links