 | 'At the last election Mr McConnell polled nearly half the vote with the SNP on a respectable
25%. In the by election the Nationalists will need a swing of seven per cent to take the seat, verturning a Labour majority of almost 6,000.' STV News, 25 th June 2008. |  |
The former First Minister Jack McConnell has told stv news that he will be resigning his
Motherwell and Wishaw seat when he becomes High Commissioner to Malawi. It raises the prospect of a
difficult by - election for Scottish Labour, which could be held before Christmas.
Banging the drum for conservation in Africa this morning, the High Commissioner in waiting
confirmed that when he is formally appointed to the diplomatic post he will quit Holyrood.
Jack McConnell said: "There would obviously be a by-election on a vacancy whenever I move on.
But that's in the hands of the Foreign Office, they need to decide the right time for that and whenever they do, I'll be happy to go. There'll be absolutely no time when I am still a member of
the Scottish Parliament and High Commissioner in Malawi. There'll also be no time, I'm sure, when
Malawi's without a High Commissioner. And I think that there's... I need to be realistic about all
this, not get too caught up in all the hype. There's a practical job to be done, I'm looking
forward to doing it and I've got no doubt that they will choose the right time for me to get
started."
At the last election Mr McConnell polled nearly half the vote with the SNP on a respectable
25%. In the by election the Nationalists will need a swing of seven per cent to take the seat, verturning a Labour majority of almost 6,000.
Normally Government's fear by elections not the opposition. The verdict of the voters here
will be eagerly anticipated. It will both be a verdict on Alex Salmond and Wendy Alexander.
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