List of first ministers of Scotland
- Top left: Donald Dewar was the first ever first minister of Scotland.
- Top right: Jack McConnell was the youngest first minister on the day he was sworn in.
- Bottom left: Alex Salmond was the longest serving first minister.
- Bottom right: Nicola Sturgeon is the current and first female first minister.
The First Minister of Scotland is the leader of the Scottish Government, Scotland's devolved government. The First Minister is responsible for the exercise of functions by the Cabinet of the Scottish Government; policy development and coordination; relationships with the rest of the United Kingdom, Europe and the wider world. The First Minister is a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP), and is nominated by the Scottish Parliament before being officially appointed by the monarch.
Currently, the First Minister is Nicola Sturgeon of the Scottish National Party (SNP), who succeeded Alex Salmond in November 2014 following his resignation after the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Sturgeon has led the Government of the 6th Scottish Parliament since 2021. Sturgeon, and before that, Alex Salmond, previously led the governments of the 3rd and 4th Scottish Parliaments which was first elected in 2007 as a minority government, and re-elected in 2011, where they formed the first majority government in the Scottish Parliament.[1][2][3][4]
The longest-serving First Minister is Alex Salmond, who surpassed Jack McConnell on 7 November 2012 and spent a total of 7 and a half years in the role.[5] Donald Dewar was the first person to hold the position, while Nicola Sturgeon is the first female first minister.
Chronological list of First Ministers of Scotland[]
No. | Portrait | Name (birth and death) Constituency |
Term of office | Political party | Term (Election) |
Ministry | Deputy First Minister (Term) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
Donald Dewar (1937–2000)† MSP for Glasgow Anniesland |
17 May 1999 |
11 October 2000 |
1 year, 147 days | Scottish Labour Party | 1st (1999) |
Dewar Lab – LD |
Jim Wallace (LD) (19 May 1999 – 23 June 2005) | ||
— | ![]() |
Jim Wallace (acting) MSP for Orkney |
11 October 2000 | 27 October 2000 | 16 days | Scottish Liberal Democrats | |||||
2 | ![]() |
Henry McLeish (1948–) MSP for Central Fife |
27 October 2000 |
8 November 2001 |
1 year, 12 days | Scottish Labour Party | McLeish Lab – LD | ||||
— | ![]() |
Jim Wallace (acting) MSP for Orkney |
8 November 2001 |
27 November 2001 |
19 days | Scottish Liberal Democrats | |||||
3 | ![]() |
Jack McConnell (1960–) MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw |
27 November 2001 |
16 May 2007 |
5 years, 170 days | Scottish Labour Party | 1st McConnell Lab – LD |
||||
2nd (2003) |
2nd McConnell Lab – LD | ||||||||||
Nicol Stephen (LD) (27 June 2005 – 17 May 2007) | |||||||||||
4 | ![]() |
Alex Salmond (1954–) MSP for Gordon until 2011 MSP for Aberdeenshire East from 2011 |
17 May 2007 |
18 November 2014 |
7 years, 185 days | Scottish National Party | 3rd (2007) |
1st Salmond SNP (minority) |
Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) (17 May 2007 – 19 November 2014) | ||
4th (2011) |
2nd Salmond SNP | ||||||||||
5 | ![]() |
Nicola Sturgeon (1970–) MSP for Glasgow Southside |
20 November 2014 |
Incumbent | 6 years, 295 days | 1st Sturgeon SNP |
John Swinney (SNP) (21 November 2014 – Present) | ||||
5th (2016) |
2nd Sturgeon SNP (minority) | ||||||||||
6th (2021) |
3rd Sturgeon SNP – Green (co-operation, from Aug 2021) |
† Died in office.
Timeline[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/timeline/2590cb9350c801cfc6639f3407280d90.png)
References[]
- ^ Wintour, Patrick (4 May 2007). "SNP wins historic victory". The Guardian. London.
- ^ "Scottish elections 2007". The Guardian. London. 15 January 2008.
- ^ Carrell, Severin (6 May 2011). "Stunning SNP election victory throws spotlight on Scottish independence". The Guardian. London.
- ^ "Scottish election: SNP wins election". BBC News. 6 May 2011.
- ^ "Longest-serving First Minister Salmond will not 'go on and on'". BBC News. 7 November 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
External links[]
- Lists of prime ministers by country
- First Ministers of Scotland
- Lists of Members of the Scottish Parliament
- Lists of government ministers of Scotland