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First McConnell government

Scottish Government from 2001 to 2003

Summary

Scottish Government from 2001 to 2003

Field	Value
cabinet_name	First McConnell government
cabinet_number	3rd
cabinet_type	government
flag	Flag of Scotland.svg
flag_border	true
jurisdiction	Scotland
incumbent	2001–2003
image	First Cabinet Meeting of McConnell Government.jpg
caption	First meeting of the McConnell cabinet, 2001
date_formed	27 November 2001
date_dissolved	20 May 2003
government_head_title	First Minister
government_head	Jack McConnell
government_head_history	MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw (1999–2011)
Minister for Finance (1999–2000) Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs (2001–2001)
deputy_government_head	Jim Wallace
state_head_title	Monarch
state_head	Elizabeth II
political_parties	{{ubl
	border	darkgray}} Labour Party
	border	darkgray}} Liberal Democrats}}
legislature_status	Majority (coalition)
opposition_party	Scottish National Party
opposition_leader	John Swinney
last_election	2003 general election
legislature_term	1st Scottish Parliament
budget	2002 Scottish budget
2003 Scottish budget
previous	McLeish government
successor	Second McConnell government

Minister for Finance (1999–2000) Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs (2001–2001) | Labour Party | Liberal Democrats}} 2003 Scottish budget

The first McConnell government was formed by Jack McConnell on 27 November 2001 during the 1st Scottish Parliament, following Henry McLeish's resignation as First Minister of Scotland as a consequence of the Officegate scandal. The first McConnell government was a continuation of the Labour–Liberal Democrat coalition that had existed under the previous McLeish and Dewar governments. It ended on 20 May 2003 following the 2003 election to the 2nd Scottish parliament, which saw McConnell returning to office as first minister to form a second government.

History

Henry McLeish resigned as first minister and leader of Scottish Labour in the aftermath of the Officegate scandal, which centred on expenses claimed for his Glenrothes constituency office. McConnell was elected as Labour leader and 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.

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.

Wendy Alexander resigned for her post of Enterprise Minister on 4 May 2002. Her vacancy was filled by Iain Gray, and his post as Social Justice Minister was in turn filled by Margaret Curran, who had been his deputy. Hugh Henry left the post of Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care on 9 May 2002, and took up the post of Deputy Minister for Social Justice. Frank McAveety filled his vacancy. Richard Simpson resigned from his post as Deputy Justice Minister on 26 November 2002, and was replaced by Hugh Henry. Des McNulty filled Henry's vacancy as Deputy Health Minister.

In the 2003 Scottish Parliament election, the Labour–Liberal Democrat coalition was renewed and Jack McConnell returned to a second term as first minister and formed a second administration.

Cabinet

Post	Minister	Portrait	Party	Term	Scottish Labour Party}}; width: 1px"
First Minister	The Rt Hon. Jack McConnell MSP	[[File:Jack McConnell.jpg	116x116px]]	Labour Party	2001–2003
Deputy First Minister	The Rt Hon. Jim Wallace QC MSP	[[File:Jim Wallace.jpg	107x107px]]	Liberal Democrats	2001–2003
Minister for Justice	2001–2003
Minister for Education and Young People	Cathy Jamieson MSP	[[File:Cathy Jamieson.jpg	107x107px]]	Labour Party	2001–2003
Minister for Social Justice	Iain Gray MSP	[[File:Iain Gray.jpg	107x107px]]	Labour Party	2001–2002
Margaret Curran MSP	[[File:Margaret Curran.jpg	107x107px]]	Labour Party	2002–2003
Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning	Wendy Alexander MSP	[[File:Wendy Alexander.jpg	111x111px]]	Labour Party	2001–2002
Iain Gray MSP	[[File:Iain Gray.jpg	107x107px]]	Labour Party	2002–2003
Minister for Culture and Sport	Mike Watson MSP	[[File:Mike Watson SM.jpg	118x118px]]	Labour Party	2001–2003
Minister for Finance and Public Services	Andy Kerr MSP	[[File:Andy Kerr.jpg	107x107px]]	Labour Party	2001–2003
Minister for Health and Community Care	Malcolm Chisholm MSP	[[File:Malcolm Chisholm.jpg	107x107px]]	Labour Party	2001–2003
Minister for Parliament	Patricia Ferguson MSP	[[File:PatriciaFergusonMSPPortrait.jpg	111x111px]]	Labour Party	2001–2003
Minister for the Environment and Rural Development	Ross Finnie MSP	[[File:Ross Finnie.jpg	107x107px]]	Liberal Democrats	2001–2003
Lord Advocate	The Rt Hon. Colin Boyd QC	[[File:Colin Boyd.jpg	107x107px]]	Labour Party	2001–2003

Junior ministers

Post	Minister	Party	Term	Scottish Labour Party}}; width: 1px"
Deputy Minister for Culture and Sport	Dr Elaine Murray MSP	Labour Party	2001–2003
Deputy Minister for Education and Young People	Nicol Stephen MSP	Liberal Democrats	1999–2000
Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning	Dr Lewis Macdonald MSP	Labour Party	2001–2003
Deputy Minister for the Environment and Rural Development	Allan Wilson MSP	Labour Party	2001–2003
Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services	Peter Peacock MSP	Labour Party	2001–2003
Deputy Ministers for Health and Community Care	Hugh Henry MSP	Labour Party	2001–2002
Frank McAveety MSP	Labour Party	2002–2003
Mary Mulligan MSP	Labour Party	2001–2003
Deputy Minister for Justice	Dr Richard Simpson MSP	Labour Party	2001–2002
Hugh Henry MSP	Labour Party	2002–2003
Deputy Minister for Parliamentary Business	Euan Robson MSP	Liberal Democrats	2001–2003
Deputy Ministers for Social Justice	Margaret Curran MSP	Labour Party	2001–2002
Hugh Henry MSP	Labour Party	2002
Des McNulty MSP	Labour Party	2002–2003
Solicitor General for Scotland	Elish Angiolini QC			Independent	2001–2003

References

(2001-11-22). "McConnell elected first minister".
(2001-11-08). "First minister to resign".
(2009-10-31). "22 November 2001: McConnell elected First Minister".
Gerry Hassan and Eric Shaw. (2012). "The Strange Death of Labour Scotland". Edinburgh University Press.
Stephen Khan. (5 May 2002). "Reshuffle is condemned as 'trawling for talent'". The Guardian.
"Hugh Henry". Scottish Parliament.
(26 November 2002). "Minister quits over fire 'fascists' row". BBC News.
"Des McNulty". Scottish Parliament.
(30 March 2007). "Ministers, Law Officer and Ministerial Parliamentary Aides by Cabinet: Session 1". Scottish Parliament.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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