Jack Wilson McConnell (born 30 June 1960 in
IrvineIrvine is a coastal new town in North Ayrshire, Scotland. According to recent population estimates , the town is home to 39,527 as the largest settlement within North Ayrshire....
,
North AyrshireNorth Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders onto the areas of Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire to the north east, and East Ayrshire, and South Ayrshire to the East and South respectively....
) is a former
First Minister of ScotlandThe First Minister of Scotland is the political leader of Scotland and head of the Scottish Government. The First Minister chairs the Scottish Cabinet and is primarily responsible for the formulation, development and presentation of Scottish government policy...
, leader of the
Scottish Labour PartyScottish Labour, often described as the Scottish Labour Party, is that part of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland. It is historically the largest political party in modern Scottish politics, having won the largest share of the vote in Scotland at every UK general election since the...
and current
MemberMember of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...
of the
Scottish ParliamentThe Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood" , is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
(MSP) for the
Motherwell and WishawMotherwell and Wishaw is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...
constituency. To date he is the longest serving First Minister in the history of the Scottish Parliament.
McConnell became an MSP in the first elections to the
Scottish ParliamentThe Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood" , is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
in
1999The Scottish Parliament election, 1999 was the first general election of the Scottish Parliament, with voting taking place on 6 May 1999. Following the election, the Labour Party and the Scottish Liberal Democrats formed the Scottish Executive, with Labour Member of the Scottish Parliament Donald...
, later holding the positions of Finance Minister, and Education Minister. He became First Minister upon the resignation of his predecessor
Henry McLeishHenry Baird McLeish is a Scottish Labour politician, author and academic. Formerly a professional association football player, McLeish was the Member of Parliament for Central Fife from 1987 to 2001 and the Member of the Scottish Parliament for Central Fife from 1999 to 2003, during which time he...
, and led the Scottish Labour Party to its second election victory in the
2003 electionThe Scottish Parliament election, 2003, was the second general election of the Scottish Parliament. It was held on 1 May 2003 and it brought no change in terms of control of the Scottish Executive...
.
Education and career
McConnell was born in Irvine and raised on a
sheepDomestic sheep are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name "sheep" applies to many species, in everyday usage it almost always refers to Ovis aries...
farm near
LamlashLamlash is the largest village by population on the Isle of Arran, in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. It lies 4 miles to the south of ferry port Brodick, in a bay on the island's east coast, facing Holy Isle.- History :...
on the
Isle of ArranArran or the Isle of Arran is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, and with an area of is the seventh largest Scottish island. It is in the unitary council area of North Ayrshire and the 2001 census had a resident population of 5,058...
. He attended Arran High School and later went on to study at the
University of StirlingThe University of Stirling founded in 1967, in Stirling, Scotland. The original vision for the university at its inception, reflecting the national zeitgeist of expanding the University sector, was to provide higher education for people from all walks of life, encouraging them to fulfil their...
, graduating with a
BScA Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years ....
Dip EdA diploma is a certificate or deed issued by an educational institution, such as a university, that testifies that the recipient has successfully completed a particular course of study, or confers an academic degree...
. He was also President of the
Students' AssociationA students' union, student government, student senate, students' association, guild of students or government of student body is a student organization present in many colleges, universities and has started to appear in some high schools...
.
After graduating in 1983 he began work as a
mathematicsMathematics is the science and study of quantity, structure, space, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns, formulate new conjectures, and establish truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and definitions....
teacher at
Lornshill AcademyLornshill Academy is a six year comprehensive school situated in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland. Approximately 1100 pupils are enrolled with the school. Lornshill currently employs approximately 83 teachers and 8 classroom assistants...
in
AlloaAlloa is a small burgh in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, 7 miles to the east of Stirling, on the north bank of the River Forth. The town was a burgh of barony, and at one time of considerable commercial importance but is now relatively insignificant...
,
ClackmannanshireClackmannanshire or Clacks is a local government council area in Scotland, and a lieutenancy area, bordering Perth and Kinross, Stirling and Fife....
(a position he retained throughout his subsequent council service).
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
TreasurerA treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization.-Government:The Treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The Treasurer is generally the head of the Treasury, although, in some countries A treasurer is the...
from 1988 until 1992, and was the Leader of the council from 1990 to 1992.
McConnell became the
General SecretaryThe term General Secretary denotes a leader of various unions, parties, churches or associations. The most notable usages are the following:...
of the
Scottish Labour PartyScottish Labour, often described as the Scottish Labour Party, is that part of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland. It is historically the largest political party in modern Scottish politics, having won the largest share of the vote in Scotland at every UK general election since the...
in 1992. His major breakthrough was in his handling of the
1997 General ElectionThe UK general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992. The Labour Party won the general election in a landslide victory with 418 seats, the most seats the party has ever held...
success, where Labour attained a large overall majority victory over the
ConservativesThe Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservatives, the Conservative Party, or Tory Party is a conservative political party in the United Kingdom...
. Together the Scottish Labour Party, the Scottish Liberal Democrats, and the
Scottish National PartyThe Scottish National Party is a centre-left political party which campaigns for Scottish independence. In the last few decades, the SNP has normally polled the second highest number of votes for a political party in Scotland. However, the 2009 European Election saw the party top the poll with...
eliminated every seat the Conservatives held in Scotland. In 1998, he served as a member of the
Scottish Constitutional ConventionThe Scottish Constitutional Convention was an association of Scottish political parties, churches and other civic groups, that developed a framework for a Scottish devolution. It is credited as having paved the way for the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.The Convention was...
where he pioneered the Scottish devolution referendum success, establishing the
Scottish ParliamentThe Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood" , is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
.
Finance Minister
McConnell was elected an
MSPMember of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...
in the first
Scottish Parliament electionsThe Scottish Parliament election, 1999 was the first general election of the Scottish Parliament, with voting taking place on 6 May 1999. Following the election, the Labour Party and the Scottish Liberal Democrats formed the Scottish Executive, with Labour Member of the Scottish Parliament Donald...
in 1999. He was appointed
Minister for FinanceThe Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, commonly referred to as the Finance Secretary, is a member of the Cabinet in the Scottish Government...
in the new
Scottish ExecutiveThe Scottish Government , legally the Scottish Executive, is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was established in 1999 as the Scottish Executive, from the extant Scottish Office, and the term Scottish Executive remains its legal name under section 44 of the Scotland Act...
by then-First Minister
Donald DewarDonald Campbell Dewar was a Scottish politician, and the first holder of the office of First Minister of Scotland, following the establishment of the Scottish Parliament. His tenure as First Minister lasted from May 1999 until his sudden death in October 2000...
.
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.
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, Jack McConnell decided to stand in the leadership contest.
The election was held on Saturday 21 October, only 72 hours after Mr Dewar’s funeral and the surprise result saw Jack McConnell win 36 votes to Henry McLeish’s 44 votes.
McLeish appointed him Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs. Some analysts considered this post to be a "poisoned chalice", as he would be required to resolve both a crisis in the
Scottish Qualifications AuthorityThe Scottish Qualifications Authority is a non-departmental public body responsible for the development, accreditation, assessment and certification of qualifications, other than academic degrees, in Scotland. It is partly funded by the Education and Lifelong Learning Directorate of the...
over exam marking, and pay disputes with the teaching unions.
In August 2000, prior to Jack McConnell’s appointment as Education Minister, Scotland's national exams system was plunged into chaos when 5,000 students get the wrong exam results.
Immediately following his appointment as Education Minister Jack McConnell appointed a new board for the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and introduced significant changes to the way the agency worked. The marking of the 2001 exams was a success.
He introduced a new pay and conditions package for Scottish teachers and the largest ever investment in schools buildings. He also established the Scottish government’s first external relations and European strategy.
Election for First Minister
Henry McLeish resigned as First Minister on 8 November 2001 over the
Officegate ScandalThe Officegate scandal was a controversy surrounding then Scottish First Minister Henry McLeish in 2001. It resulted in his resignation from the post....
, regarding the sub-let of his
constituencyScottish Parliament constituencies and regions were first used in 1999, in the first general election of the Scottish Parliament , created by the Scotland Act 1998....
office.
In the resulting search for a leader, McConnell was seen by many political analysts as the likely successor.. McConnell quickly emerged as the only candidate
and was elected First Minister by the Parliament on 22 November 2001 and formally appointed into office by
Queen Elizabeth IIElizabeth II is the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known informally as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,...
on 26 November 2001.
First term
A few days after his appointment, on 27 November 2001, McConnell carried out a reshuffle of the Cabinet, axing four Ministers:
Angus MacKayAngus MacKay is a Scottish Labour politician, and was Member of the Scottish Parliament for Edinburgh South constituency from 1999 to 2003....
,
Sarah BoyackSarah Boyack MSP is the Labour MSP for Edinburgh Central in the Scottish Parliament. She was brought up in Edinburgh, where her father was an important figure in the Labour Party and campaign for Scottish devolution....
,
Tom McCabeThomas "Tom" McCabe is a Scottish Labour Party politician, a former Minister for Finance in the Scottish Executive, and Member of the Scottish Parliament for Hamilton South....
and
Jackie BaillieJackie Baillie is a Labour Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Dumbarton constituency. Schooled in the English Lake District, she studied at Cumbernauld College, Strathclyde University and the University of Glasgow....
, and demoting
Susan DeaconSusan Deacon is a Scottish Labour Party politician and was a MSP for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh from 1999 to 2007. She attended the University of Edinburgh for her degree in Social Policy and Politics, as well as for her MBA...
(she later resigned rather than accept the new post offered to her)..
In February 2002, Scotland joined forces with the
Republic of IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
in a bid to host the 2008 European Football Championship. 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 Austria/Switzerland, McConnell later supported other attempts to land major supporting events including London's successful bid for the
2012 Olympic GamesThe 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, are due to take place in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
and
GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
's bid for the
2014 Commonwealth GamesThe 20th Commonwealth Games in 2014 will be held in Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland. The winning city was announced by the Commonwealth Games Federation on 9 November 2007 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Games will run for 12 days from 23 July to 3 August 2014...
.
In December 2002 Mr McConnell launched his government's campaign against sectarianism.http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/04/2193449/34509
Second term
Jack McConnell was re-elected MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw at the Scottish Parliament elections. The Labour Party won 50 seats, the largest number, and formed a coalition with the Liberal Democrat Party which won 17 seats.
On 15 May Mr McConnell was re-appointed First Minster 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.
Key achievements of Jack McConnell's administration include:
The Fresh Talent initiative, launched in February 2004, to encourage economic migration to Scotland and help tackle the country’s declining and ageing population.
A global campaign to promote Scotland as a place to live, work, study and visit was established on 1 July 2004
Project Scotland a national volunteering scheme for young people was set up on 11 May 2004.
Scotland became the first part of the UK to implement a ban on smoking in public places on 26 March 2006.
Scotland and Malawi signed an historic Co-operation Agreement on 3 November 2005.
2007 election
The Scottish Parliament elections of 3 May 2007 saw Jack McConnell re-elected as the MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw with a majority 5938 votes, representing 48% of the vote with a turnout of 50.3%. However the Labour Party was narrowly defeated by the SNP with the Nationalists winning 47 seats to Labour's 46, leaving the SNP far short of an overall majority in the Parliament.
Alex Salmond declared that his party had the right to form an executive due to their victory in the popular vote. McConnell strongly disagreed with this statement, arguing that "There is no moral authority to pursue separation and moral authority in the parliament will only come through parties working together in the majority."
After First Minister
On 15 August 2007, McConnell announced his intention to resign as Scottish Labour leader.
He was appointed an adviser to the
ClintonThe William J. Clinton Foundation is a foundation established by former President of the United States Bill Clinton with the stated mission to "strengthen the capacity of people throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence." The Foundation focuses on four critical areas:...
Hunter Development Initiative in
MalawiThe Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast and Mozambique, which surrounds it on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by...
and
RwandaThe Republic of Rwanda is a small landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of east-central Africa, bordered by Uganda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. Home to approaching 10 million people, Rwanda supports the densest population in continental Africa, most of whom...
in August 2007.
He was slated to take over as the
UK's High Commissioner to MalawiThis is a list of current heads of United Kingdom Missions abroad. It is up to date as of 9 April 2008 to the High Commissioner to Cameroon.-Resident Heads of Missions:-Non-resident Heads of Missions:...
in 2009, but was appointed by Gordon Brown in October 2008 as the Prime Minister's Special Representative on Conflict Resolution Mechanisms.
He is a UK Ambassador for Action for Children, and Fellow of the 48 Group Club, which promotes relationships between the UK and China, and an Ambassador for Pump Aid.
He remains the MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw.
Personal life
He is married to Bridget McConnell, and has two adopted children from that marriage, Hannah and Mark. Bridget is Chief Executive of Culture and Sport Glasgow, the UK's largest and most comprehensive cultural and sports charitable company.
Hannah lives in London working for the British Council. Mark is a graduate of the
University of DundeeThe University of Dundee is a university in the city and Royal burgh of Dundee, Scotland.Founded in 1881, the institution existed for most of its early existence as a constituent college of the University of St Andrews alongside the St Andrews-based United College and St Mary's College...
, and is currently working as a teacher at Broxburn Academy teaching English.
See also
- Politics of Scotland
The Politics of Scotland forms a distinctive part of the wider politics of the United Kingdom.Constitutionally, the United Kingdom is de jure a unitary state with one sovereign parliament and government...
- List of Scottish Executive Ministerial Teams
- Bute House
Bute House is the official residence of the First Minister of Scotland, who is the head of the Scottish Government, the country's devolved government established in 1999...
External links