First McConnell government

Status in legislatureMajority (coalition) Opposition party  Scottish National PartyOpposition leaderJohn SwinneyHistoryOutgoing election2003 general electionLegislature term(s)1st Scottish ParliamentPredecessorMcLeish governmentSuccessorSecond McConnell government

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.^[1] 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

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
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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.^[2] 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.^[3]

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.^[4] 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.^[5][6] Frank McAveety filled his vacancy.^[5] Richard Simpson resigned from his post as Deputy Justice Minister on 26 November 2002, and was replaced by Hugh Henry.^[7] Des McNulty filled Henry's vacancy as Deputy Health Minister.^[8]

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

Cabinet[9]
Post	Minister	Portrait	Party		Term
First Minister	The Rt Hon. Jack McConnell MSP			Labour Party	2001–2003
Deputy First Minister	The Rt Hon. Jim Wallace QC MSP			Liberal Democrats	2001–2003
Minister for Justice					2001–2003
Minister for Education and Young People	Cathy Jamieson MSP			Labour Party	2001–2003
Minister for Social Justice	Iain Gray MSP			Labour Party	2001–2002
	Margaret Curran MSP			Labour Party	2002–2003
Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning	Wendy Alexander MSP			Labour Party	2001–2002
	Iain Gray MSP			Labour Party	2002–2003
Minister for Culture and Sport	Mike Watson MSP			Labour Party	2001–2003
Minister for Finance and Public Services	Andy Kerr MSP			Labour Party	2001–2003
Minister for Health and Community Care	Malcolm Chisholm MSP			Labour Party	2001–2003
Minister for Parliament	Patricia Ferguson MSP			Labour Party	2001–2003
Minister for the Environment and Rural Development	Ross Finnie MSP			Liberal Democrats	2001–2003
Lord Advocate	The Rt Hon. Colin Boyd QC			Labour Party	2001–2003

Junior ministers

Junior ministers[9]
Post	Minister	Party		Term
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