McConnell urged to quit Holyrood

Mr McConnell said he was committed to serving his constituents

Scotland's former first minister has been urged to quit as an MSP in order to take up his new diplomatic job.

MPs said it would be "unsatisfactory" for Jack McConnell to stay at Holyrood while preparing to become British High Commissioner to Malawi.

Mr McConnell said the arrangements were a matter for the Foreign Office, adding that serving his constituents in Motherwell and Wishaw was a priority.

He quit as Scottish Labour's leader after the SNP's election win last May.

The Commons foreign affairs committee urged the Foreign Office to resolve the situation "swiftly" by announcing a start date for the new job within the first half of next year - meaning Mr McConnell would have to stand down as an MSP, triggering a by-election.

But he has so far shown no sign of quitting Motherwell and Wishaw - where his majority at the last Holyrood election was cut to 5,938 with a 6.9% swing from Labour to the SNP.

Impartial duties

Mr McConnell - Scotland's longest-serving first minister - has long-standing links with the African country, one of the poorest in the world.

Senior civil servants' group, the First Division Association, raised concern the appointment was carried out without an open selection process.

But committee said it was satisfied the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Mr McConnell - nominated for the post by Prime Minister Gordon Brown - behaved "without impropriety".

However, MPs expressed surprise at the possibility of a long gap between the present high commissioner, Richard Wildash, leaving in January and Mr McConnell's starting date - and that he had not ruled out staying on as an MSP for an extended period.

"We conclude that it would be very unsatisfactory for there to be a lengthy interregnum in which no high commissioner is in post," stated the report.

"It would be equally unsatisfactory for Mr McConnell to continue to perform the duties of a member of the Scottish Parliament at the same time that he is preparing to undertake the politically impartial duties of a British diplomat."

Mr McConnell, who was succeeded in the Scottish Labour leadership by Wendy Alexander, said: "The handover arrangements for the post are entirely a matter for the Foreign Office.

"In the meantime my priorities remain serving the people of Motherwell and Wishaw and my voluntary work advising the Clinton Hunter Development Initiative and others in Malawi and elsewhere."

The appointment was scrutinised by the committee as part of its policy to study such appointments of people from outside the diplomatic service.