The first McConnell government was formed by

Jack McConnell Jack Wilson McConnell, Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale, (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 ...

on 22 November 2001 during the 1st Scottish Parliament, following Henry McLeish's resignation as

First Minister of Scotland The first minister of Scotland ( sco, heid meinister o Scotland; gd, prìomh mhinistear na h-Alba ) is the head of the Scottish Government and keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland. The first minister chairs ...

as a consequence of the

Officegate Officegate was a political scandal in Scotland surrounding the unregistered expenses of the then-First Minister of Scotland, Henry McLeish, in 2001. It was the first major scandal the Scottish Parliament had faced since its reincarnation two yea ...

scandal. The first McConnell government was a continuation of the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

–

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

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 A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of ' ...

by a vote of the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

on 22 November, defeating

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

leader John Swinney,

Scottish Conservative The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party ( gd, Pàrtaidh Tòraidheach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Tory an Unionist Pairty), often known simply as the Scottish Conservatives and colloquially as the Scottish Tories, is a centre-right political par ...

leader

David McLetchie David William McLetchie CBE (6 August 1952 – 12 August 2013) was a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 1999 to 2005. He was Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Edinburgh Pentlands co ...

and

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

MSP

Dennis Canavan Dennis Andrew Canavan (born 8 August 1942) is a Scottish politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Falkirk West from 1974 to 2000 (known as West Stirlingshire from 1974 to 1983), first as a member of the Labour Party, and then as an I ...

by 70 votes to 34, 19 and 3 respectively. Shortly after being appointed McConnell began making appointments to his cabinet.

Jim Wallace James Robert Wallace, Baron Wallace of Tankerness, (born 25 August 1954) is a Scottish politician serving as a Liberal Democrat life peer in the British House of Lords since 2007 and Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland ...

remained in the post of deputy first minister while Cathy Jamieson took over Mr McConnell's education brief and

Wendy Alexander Wendy Alexander (born 27 June 1963) is a retired Scottish politician and the former Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Paisley North. She held various Scottish Government cabinet posts and was the Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland ...

and

Ross Finnie James Ross Finnie (born 11 February 1947) is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician and a former Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP). He is a former Minister for the Environment and Rural Development in the Scottish Executive, and Memb ...

remained as ministers.

Sam Galbraith Samuel Laird Galbraith (18 October 1945 – 18 August 2014) was a Scottish politician and neurosurgeon who served as Minister for Environment, Sport and Culture from 2000 to 2001 and Minister for Children and Education from 1999 to 2000. Galbra ...

and Angus MacKay stood down and

Jackie Baillie Jacqueline Marie Baillie (' Barnes; born 15 January 1964) is a Scottish politician who has served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party since 2020. She has been Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Dumbarton constituency sinc ...

Sarah Boyack Sarah Herriot Boyack (born 16 May 1961) is a Scottish Labour politician who has served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Lothian region since 2019, and previously from 2011 to 2016. She formerly represented the Edinburgh Cent ...

and

Tom McCabe Thomas McCabe (28 April 1954 – 19 April 2015) was a Scottish politician who served as Minister for Parliament from 1999 to 2001 and Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform from 2004 to 2007. A member of the Scottish Labour Party, he ...

reshuffled out of government, while

Susan Deacon Susan Catherine Deacon (born 2 February 1964) is a former Scottish Labour politician, and public figure who has held leadership roles across the private, public and third sectors, and in academia and national politics. She was the Member of the ...

was offered the post of social justice minister but refused the offer and moved to the

backbenches In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of ...

Cathy Jamieson Catherine Mary Jamieson (born 3 November 1956) is a Scottish business director, currently a director at Kilmarnock Football Club and former politician. She served as the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 2000 to 2008. She pre ...

, Mike Watson, Malcolm Chisholm,

Iain Gray Iain Cumming Gray (born 7 June 1957) is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2008 to 2011. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the East Lothian constituency from 2007 to 2021, having ...

Patricia Ferguson Patricia Josephine Ferguson (born 24 September 1958, Glasgow) is a Scottish Labour Party politician who was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Glasgow Maryhill constituency from 1999 until 2011 and for Glasgow Maryhill and Spring ...

and

Andy Kerr Andrew Kerr (1878–1969) was an American football coach. Andrew or Andy Kerr may also refer to: * Andrew Kerr (Australian politician) (1837–1907), New South Wales politician *Andrew Kerr (broadcaster), Scottish television presenter and journalis ...

were all promoted to cabinet.

resigned for her post of Enterprise Minister on 4 May 2002. Her vacancy was filled by

, and his post as Social Justice Minister was in turn filled by Margaret Curran, who had been his deputy.

Hugh Henry Hugh Henry (born 12 February 1952) is a former Scottish Labour Party politician. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Renfrewshire South, formerly Paisley South, from 1999 to 2016. Background Henry was born in Glasgow and ...

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

Des McNulty Des McNulty (born 28 July 1952), is a Scottish Labour Party politician, who served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Clydebank and Milngavie constituency from 1999 to 2011, serving as Labour's Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Edu ...

filled Henry's vacancy as Deputy Health Minister. In the 2003 Scottish Parliament election, the

–

coalition was renewed and Jack McConnell returned to a second term as first minister and formed a second administration.

Cabinet

Junior ministers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McConnell ministry, First Scottish governments 2001 establishments in Scotland 2003 disestablishments in Scotland Coalition governments of the United Kingdom Ministries of Elizabeth II