‘Massive hole’ left by death, says McConnell

When former Scottish Labour leader Jack McConnell thinks of the late first minister Donald D e w a r, he remembers being “flattered and privileged” when asked to become Holyrood’s first finance minister – and Mr Dewar’s ability to “lighten the atmosphere” during sombre occasions.

“Ten days after the first Scott ish Pa r l iament elections in May 1999, he told the Queen that he made me finance minister because I had been a maths teacher and I was the only one around who could count,” says Mr McConnell, who is now Baron M c C o n n e l o f Glenscorrodale.

However, by contrast, L o r d M cC onn e l l remembers the “deathly silence” that engulfed St Andrew’s House when it became clear what the “inevitable” outcome of Donald Dewar’s admission to hospital in October 2000 was going to be.

Cabinet members, civil servants and advisers sat for hours in almost complete silence realising what a “massive hole” Mr Dewar’s death would leave.

“It wasn’t just a hole, a vacant seat where he had sat or a desk where he had l worked – it was a presence around us and a hole in the fabric of Scotland,” said Lord Mc C o n n e l l , who succeeded Henry McLeish as first minister from 2001 to 2007.

“We were all aware that creating a successful Scottish Parliament and changing people’s lives, demanding social justice, was a massive challenge. But we were aware that day that the massive challenge had become an awful lot more challenging.”

Lord McConnell spoke to The Courier as he prepared to present the online Donald Dewar Memorial Lecture on T h u r s d a y, organised by Glasgow University.

It was Donald Dewar’s intention that the devolved Scottish Parliament would increase social justice and hold government to account – issues that are relevant “now more than ever” given the economic impact of Covid and the relationship between Holyrood and Westminster.

H ow e v e r , L o r d McConnell thinks Donald Dewar would have been “disappointed” that during its second decade, the parliament has become “more of a political debating chamber for and against independence”.