Downing Street hints at new role in public life for McLeish

Published on Sunday 8 September 2002 01:00

TONY Blair has thrown a lifeline to former First Minister Henry McLeish following his resignation as an MSP last week.

Scotland on Sunday has learned that Downing Street has signalled to McLeish that he will continue to have a role in public life after he ceases to be an MSP.

The former First Minister has told friends that he does not plan to leave Scotland to live in America.

McLeish’s fall from power was completed last Thursday when he announced that he would step down as an MSP at next May’s Scottish parliament elections.

A source close to McLeish, said: "Henry spoke to the PM, Gordon Brown and Charles Clarke before he announced he wouldn’t be standing again. Nothing was discussed in specific terms, but No 10 was particularly keen to say that there was lots for Henry still to contribute. There are a number of options.

"'Tony and Henry got on well together, and you have to remember that, with Donald Dewar gone, there’s no one else around with Henry’s background and experience, both of Holyrood and Westminster.

"Henry’s not the only one who thinks that he has more to offer."

McLeish is known to favour a role which would tap into his interest in European and constitutional matters, or his experience as Enterprise Minister in working with businesses.

Labour critics of McLeish last night admitted that was still a role for the former First Minister, but claimed that he should not be put on a Scotland-based quango.

A Scottish Labour MSP said: "There’s no doubt he still has something to offer - he is one of the few with an in-depth knowledge of both Holyrood and Whitehall. He did have a role in creating devolution, and he was keen to boost Scotland’s image.

"But no one here can see him being put in charge of a Scotland-based quango. It would just be too close to where he’s fallen from grace. If it’s going to be a quango, then it should be Whitehall-based."

David McLetchie, the Scottish Conservative leader, said: "If he ends up on a quango, then this will be a shabby deal that just goes to prove that Henry McLeish was only one symptom of deep and insidious cronyism that runs like a cancer through the Labour Party.

"Henry is only an example of a much wider malaise in the murky world of Scottish Labour politics."

An SNP spokesman said: "This takes Labour cronyism to new heights. McLeish was brought down by the scandal of cronyism in Fife. Yet it seems not to matter how discredited you are. If you carry a Labour card there will always be a job for you."

McLeish has also told friends there is no truth in rumours that he is emigrating to America. He has put his house on the market but is planning to move to a smaller home in Fife.

While he will continue to lecture at Oklahoma University, as he has done as a visiting academic for several years, McLeish hopes to also obtain part-time employment lecturing in politics and government at a Scottish university.

Despite speculation that a plan to write his memoirs was dumped by his would-be publishers, it is understood that McLeish still plans to write a ‘positive’ book about his time as First Minister and his vision for Scotland, probably to be published after next year’s election.

In addition, he has made it known that he wishes to become involved in charity work. He is particularly interested in cancer charities. McLeish’s first wife, Margaret, died from stomach cancer in 1995.

One friend said: "I don’t know if there are charities out there who want to be associated with Henry right now, but he has told many of us that he would like to do something for cancer sufferers and children with special needs."

Meanwhile, opposition politicians warned Labour they were watching the selection process for McLeish’s replacement as the party’s candidate next May. One favourite is Christine May, leader of Fife Council.