Q&A: Jack McConnell on why is he standing down

Aug 31 2010 By Richard Mooney

LAST Wednesday Jack McConnell announced his intention to stand down as MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw at the next elections.

In this tell-all interview the area’s MSP of 11 years tells Wishaw Press Reporter Richard Mooney of his achievements, regrets, fond memories and addresses criticism from constituents over his time as an MSP.

How long did it take for you to come to this decision?

I did say at the beginning of the summer that I would decide once I had a break in August. Obviously when the House of Lords appointment happened in June I had to think about the choice and think about the future.

I was 50 on June 30 and I suppose it’s at these moments in your life come with the opportunity to think through what happens next.

I was back in Arran, that’s where my family and I go on holiday ever year. I had to think it through in August and decided last week that the best thing to would be to make this announcement and not delay it. I had to make it clear for everybody about what’s going to happen and let a new person come forward and make their mark in advance of May.

Was it a difficult decision to come to?

It was a very difficult decision to make.

Eleven years is a long time and at the age of 50, if I move onto new challenges this time I have got a number of years to take them up.

At the same time I am very fond of Motherwell and Wishaw. I didn’t know the area particularly well before I was selected back in 1999, but very quickly became very committed to it and there’s a big job to be done here.

To be honest one of the things that helped me decide is that I think the economic situation is going to be get difficult over the next few years. The Scottish Government’s reluctance to support the Ravenscraig development and school building in this area and other issues could have a massive impact on the economy of this area. I think having a full-time MSP who can challenge that and stand up for the area and devote all their time to that is what’s right for the next few years.

A lot of constituents came to us with their concerns that your time is still going to be split between the House of Lords and your duties as an MSP up until the election. Is this still going to be the case going into next May?

Well as I said before Lord David Steel was the parliaments presiding officer as the same time as being a member of the House of Lords. Being a member of the House of Lords is not a full-time job, it’s an appointment and you participate in the House of Lords when you can and I said at the beginning of the summer that my constituency remains my priority and that is still the case.

Unlike almost every other person who has left government office at my level over recent years I have taken no paid employment since I left the position of First Minister, I have no consultancies. For the last three years, and the next, I have always been committed to this constituency whereas others – for their own reasons – have sought other sources of work while they were still MPs in London.

I have a good record of putting my constituency first.

This week we asked some constituents what they thought of your time as an MSP for the area. The response was overwhelmingly negative. The main points were that you had a additional roles on top your main job as an MSP.

I’ve had nothing but positive comments from constituents over the last week and also about the House of Lords appointment. I have had some lovely letters from local people thanking me for my work. I’m really pleased at the support I have locally.

I hope anybody who has any reservations will look at the new (Ravenscraig) college building, the new sports facility that is about to open and the new schools that are about to open here.