First Salmond government

First Salmond government
5th devolved administration of Scotland
2007–2011
Date formed	17 May 2007
Date dissolved	19 May 2011
People and organisations
Monarch	Elizabeth II
First Minister	Alex Salmond
First Minister's history	2007–2014
Deputy First Minister	Nicola Sturgeon
Total no. of members	16
Member parties	Scottish National Party
Status in legislature	Minority 47 / 129 (36%)
Opposition party	Scottish Labour Party
Opposition leader	Jack McConnell (2007) Cathy Jamieson (2007) Wendy Alexander (2007-08) Cathy Jamieson (2008) Iain Gray (2008-11)
History
Election(s)	2007 general election
Outgoing election	2011 general election
Legislature term(s)	3rd Scottish Parliament
Predecessor	Second McConnell government
Successor	Second Salmond government

The first Salmond government, which was sworn in on 17 May 2007 at the start of the 3rd Scottish Parliament, was a SNP minority government. Having won the largest number of seats in the general election (47 of 129) the SNP sought to form a coalition with the Scottish Liberal Democrats. When those talks failed, the SNP chose to form a one-party minority government. The SNP and Scottish Greens signed an agreement where the Greens supported SNP ministerial appointments, but did not offer support for any confidence or budget votes ("confidence and supply").^[1] SNP leader, Alex Salmond was elected First Minister on 16 May 2007; he was officially sworn in and his slate of ministerial appointments were ratified by the Scottish Parliament the following day.

This article is part of a series about Alex Salmond
Political positions Electoral History Scottish independence Social nationalism SNP (until 2018) Alba Party (since 2021) Leader of the SNP First Term 1990 SNP leadership election Scottish devolution 1999 election Second Term 2004 SNP leadership election First Minister of Scotland Premiership First Ministry 2007 election Free Tuition Fees Abdelbaset al-Megrahi's Release Glasgow Airport attack Free Prescription charges Second Ministry 2011 re-election 2014 European election 2014 referendum Resignation Post Premiership Alex Salmond scandal Leader of the Alba Party 2021 election Indyref2 UK General elections 1992 1997 2005 2010
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History[]

Due to the agreement signed with the Greens, Salmond's investiture vote was successful despite only having 47 of 129 seats in the Parliament. The vote was 49–46, with the SNP and Greens voting in favour and the 46 Scottish Labour MSPs voting against, with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats abstaining.^[2]

On 16 May 2007, a few hours after Salmond was sworn in by parliament, he announced his intention to form a government composed of five cabinet secretaries and ten junior ministers.^[3] Furthermore, the Lord Advocate lost her seat in the cabinet.^[4]

A cabinet reshuffle took place in February 2009.^[5]

Cabinet[]

2007 to 2011[]

Cabinet[6][]
Post	Minister		Term
First Minister	The Rt Hon. Alex Salmond MSP		2007–2011
Deputy First Minister	Nicola Sturgeon MSP		2007–2011
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing			2007–2011
Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth	John Swinney MSP		2007–2011
Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning	Fiona Hyslop MSP		2007–2009
	Michael Russell MSP		2009–2011
Cabinet Secretary for Justice	Kenny MacAskill MSP		2007–2011
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment	Richard Lochhead MSP		2007–2011

Junior Ministers[]

Scottish Law Officers[]

References[]