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A fellow of the 48 Group Club, which seeks to promote trade between the United Kingdom and [[China]], a [[totalitarian]], [[genocidal]] [[communist]] regime, as First Minister, he forged many ties between Scotland and the authoritarian state.<ref name="48group" />
A fellow of the 48 Group Club, which seeks to promote trade between the United Kingdom and [[China]], a [[totalitarian]], [[genocidal]] [[communist]] regime, as First Minister, he forged many ties between Scotland and the authoritarian state.<ref name="48group" />
== Political career ==
== Political career ==
McConnell was elected to the first Scottish Parliament in 300 years, following a devolution referendum in September 1997, on 6 May 1999 as the [[Labour]] MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw in [[Lanarkshire]].
McConnell was appointed as Minister for Finance on 19 May 1999 by the inaugural [[First Minister of Scotland]] [[Donald Dewar]].
Following the in-office death of Donald Dewar on 11 October 2000, McConnell remained as Minister for Finance under acting First Minister Jim Wallace until a successor to Dewar was chosen.
[[Henry McLeish]] was the obvious successor to Dewar, but party leadership intervened in order to stop McLeish taking office without a vote and McConnell ran against McLeish. A vote was held by the Scottish Parliament on 21 October, 3 days after Donald Dewar's funeral, and McConnell was defeated with 36 votes against McLeish's 44.
On 29 October 2000, McLeish revealed his new ministerial team, with McConnell appointed as Minister of Education, Europe and External Affairs.<ref>[https://webarchive.nrscotland.gov.uk/3000/https://www.gov.scot/News/Releases/2000/10/d45ebfe7-d474-4aca-9719-a3d9694c68a4 First Minister Announces New Ministerial Team]</ref>
On 8 November 2001, McLeish resigned as First Minister of Scotland due to the a scandal dubbed "Officegate", which surrounded the First Ministers's unregistered expenses. McConnell ended up running unnaposed for Scottish Labour leadership, to which he was elected on 17 November 2001.
McConnell was selected for the post of First Minister by the Scottish Parliament on 22 November 2001, beating the leader of the [[Scottish National Party]] John Swinney, leader of the Scottish Conservatives David McLetchie and Dennis Canavan, an independent, by 70 votes to 34, 19 and 3 respectively.
A supporter of the neoconservative War in Iraq which began in 2003, it was reported on 13 March 2003 that Jack McConnell would attempt to take on opponents of the war within the Labour Party.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1424488/McConnell-to-speak-in-Iraq-debate.html McConnell to speak in Iraq debate]</ref>
A supporter of the neoconservative War in Iraq which began in 2003, it was reported on 13 March 2003 that Jack McConnell would attempt to take on opponents of the war within the Labour Party.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1424488/McConnell-to-speak-in-Iraq-debate.html McConnell to speak in Iraq debate]</ref>