Jack McConnell Collection
- Location: University of Stirling Archives and Special Collections
- Reference Number: SPA/JMC
- Date: 1979 - 2013
- Description: This collection contains records relating to Lord McConnell's career from Student President of the University of Stirling through to his time in the House of Lords as Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale. The Collection includes election materials, records relating to his time as MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw and his period as First Minister of Scotland. The Collection includes material relating to Scottish Nationalism, the CSA, Constitutional Convention and the referendums of 1979 and 1997.
The cataloguing of the collection was made possible through the support of the National Cataloguing Grants Programme. - Related Material: SPA/OH/REF/NAT/YES/12
- Level: Collection
- Extent: 914 files
- Administrative History: Lord McConnell is a graduate of the University of Stirling where he served as President of Stirling University Students Association between 1980-82 as well as Vice-President of NUS Scotland in 1982 -83. He graduated in 1983 and took up a post teaching maths in Lornshill Academy in Alloa. Between 1984 and 1993 he served as a Labour Councillor for Logie Ward on Stirling Council, where he held the following posts: Chair of the Leisure and Recreation Committee (1986-88), Equal Opportunities Committee (1986- 1990), Council Treasurer (1988-1992) and Council Leader (1990- 1992). His collection incorporates papers relating to this period which are particularly relevant from a Stirling perspective. In addition it directly ties into the Stirling University institutional collecting policy by including material relating to the history of the University Students' Association and Stirling Council. Throughout the 1980s Lord McConnell was involved in the Labour Co-ordinating Committee (Scotland) as well as a founder member of Scottish Labour Action: each was responsible for influencing Labour policy in Scotland. He was appointed General Secretary of the Scottish Labour Party in 1992, a position he held until 1998, during which time he was a key member of the Scottish Constitutional Convention which designed the devolution settlement for the Scottish Parliament. Between 1999 and 2011 he was returned as the Labour MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw, successively holding the positions of Minister for Finance (1999-2000), Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs (2000-2001) before becoming First Minister (2001-2007). Lord McConnell was at the heart of Labour policy decision making throughout this period and his papers reflect this involvement. Following his departure from the office of First Minister, Lord McConnell was Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Special Representative for Peace building from 2008 to 2010 and was introduced to membership of the House of Lords in 2010 as Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale.
- Access Conditions: This archive is currently closed pending review by Lord McConnell. To request access please contact the Scottish Political Archive by email scottishpoliticalarchive@stir.ac.uk
- Contact: University of Stirling Archives
