In Episode 21 of Apolitical we speak with Jack McConnell, the former First Minister of Scotland who now represents Labour in the House of Lords as Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale. We chat about his time as First Minister; his thoughts on House of Lords reform; the prospects for Scottish Labour; and his international development work.

Apologies for the sound issues on this episode – we hope they don’t detract from your enjoyment of the conversation.

Amongst the topics we discuss with Jack on the podcast are:

• The path that brought him to active politics and the Labour Party;

• How he feels about the process Labour have chosen to select their new UK leader;

• Whether Scottish Labour have made a good choice of leader in Kezia Dugdale;

• His thoughts on reforming the House of Lords;

• His intense year as Education Minister at Holyrood;

• How he tried to replace Donald Dewar and ultimately replaced Henry McLeish as leader;

• His memories of five years as Scotland’s First Minister;

and

• The development and peace-making projects he is involved with around the world.

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Show Links:

Scottish Labour

The McConnell International Foundation

Jack McConnell on Twitter