List of first ministers of Scotland

Last updated

Donald Dewar First Minister.jpg
Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland (cropped).jpg
Official portrait of First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.jpg
John Swinney - First Minister (53720492021) (cropped).jpg
  • Top left: Donald Dewar was the first ever first minister of Scotland
  • Top right: Alex Salmond was the first SNP leader to win an election in Scotland
  • Bottom left: Nicola Sturgeon was the first female and longest serving first minister
  • Bottom right: John Swinney is the current and seventh since devolution

The first minister of Scotland is the head of government of Scotland, leader of the Scottish Government and keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland. 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 international relations. Since the establishment of the office in 1999, seven men (including both tenures as acting first minister by Jim Wallace) and one woman has served in the position.

Contents

Donald Dewar was the inaugural person to hold the position following his election in 1999 and is regarded as the "Father of the Nation". [1] Following Dewar's death in 2000 whilst still serving in office, he was succeeded by his enterprise minister, Henry McLeish. McLeish resigned from the office of first minister on 8 November 2001 following the officegate scandal and is the shortest-serving first minister, having served in the role for 1 year and 12 days. [2] Humza Yousaf, who served as first minister between March 2023 and May 2024 is the second shortest–serving first minister after a period in office of 1 year and 39 days. [3] Sturgeon is the longest-serving first minister, having surpassed Salmond on 25 May 2022. [4] Salmond in turn spent a total of 7 and a half years in the role.

The current first minister is John Swinney, who leads the Government of the 6th Scottish Parliament, as did his predecessors Humza Yousaf and Nicola Sturgeon. Before that, Alex Salmond, 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 5th Scottish Parliament. [5] [6] [7] [8] 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.

List of first ministers of Scotland

The parties shown are those to which the first ministers belonged to at the time they held office, and the constituencies shown are those they represented while in office.

Political parties
   Scottish Labour Party
   Scottish Liberal Democrats
   Scottish National Party
Status

  Background and italics indicates caretaker first minister

Legend
No.PortraitName
(birth–death)
constituency
Term of officePartyElection
(parliament)
Government Deputy Monarch
(reign)
Ref.
Took officeLeft officeTenure
1 Donald Dewar First Minister.jpg Donald Dewar
(1937–2000)
MSP for Glasgow Anniesland
Premiership
17 May 199911 October 2000†1 year, 147 days Labour 1999
(1st)
Dewar
LabLD
Jim Wallace Queen Elizabeth II in March 2015.jpg
Elizabeth II
(1952–2022)
[9]
(—) Jim Wallace 1999.jpg Jim Wallace
(born 1954)
MSP for Orkney
11 October 200027 October 200016 days Liberal Democrat
(1st)
Dewar
LabLD
(caretaker)
2 Official Portrait of Henry McLeish, 2000.jpg Henry McLeish
(born 1948)
MSP for Central Fife
Premiership
27 October 20008 November 20011 year, 12 days Labour
(1st)
McLeish
LabLD
(—) Jim Wallace.jpg Jim Wallace
(born 1954)
MSP for Orkney
8 November 200127 November 200119 days Liberal Democrat
(1st)
McLeish
LabLD
(caretaker)
3 Jack McConnell Official Portrait 2001.jpg Jack McConnell
(born 1960)
MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw
Premiership
27 November 200116 May 20075 years, 170 days Labour
(1st)
McConnell I
LabLD
2003
(2nd)
McConnell II
LabLD
Nicol Stephen
4 Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland (cropped).jpg Alex Salmond
(1954–2024)
MSP for Gordon (until 2011)
MSP for Aberdeenshire East (from 2011)
Premiership
17 May 200718 November 20147 years, 185 days SNP 2007
(3rd)
Salmond I
SNP (minority)
Nicola Sturgeon [10]
2011
(4th)
Salmond II
SNP
5 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon official portrait (cropped).jpg Nicola Sturgeon
(born 1970)
MSP for Glasgow Southside
Premiership
20 November 201428 March 20238 years, 128 days SNP
(4th)
Sturgeon I
SNP
John Swinney [11]
2016
(5th)
Sturgeon II
SNP (minority)
2021
(6th)
Sturgeon III
SNPGreen
King Charles III (July 2023).jpg
Charles III
(2022–present)
6 First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf (cropped 3).jpg Humza Yousaf
(born 1985)
MSP for Glasgow Pollok
Premiership
29 March 20237 May 20241 year, 39 days SNP
(6th)
Yousaf I
SNPGreen
Shona Robison [12]
Yousaf II
SNP (minority)
7 John Swinney - First Minister (53720492021) (cropped).jpg John Swinney
(born 1964)
MSP for Perthshire North
Premiership
8 May 2024Incumbent311 days SNP
(6th)
Swinney
SNP (minority)
Kate Forbes

Timeline of Scottish first ministers

John SwinneyHumza YousafNicola SturgeonAlex SalmondJack McConnellHenry McLeishJim WallaceDonald DewarList of first ministers of Scotland

References

Notes

    Citations

    1. "BBC News | SCOTLAND | 'Father of nation' dies". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
    2. "The seven men and women who have led Scotland in 25 years of devolution". The Herald. 11 May 2024. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
    3. Cameron, Joshua Thurston, John Boothman, Kieran Andrews, Laurence Sleator, Greig (29 April 2024). "Humza Yousaf resigns as Scotland's first minister — as it happened". The Times . Retrieved 7 November 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
    4. Duffy, Judith (25 May 2022). "Sturgeon sets new record for longest term as FM". The National. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
    5. Wintour, Patrick (4 May 2007). "SNP wins historic victory". The Guardian . London. Archived from the original on 23 March 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
    6. "Scottish elections 2007". The Guardian . London. 15 January 2008. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
    7. Carrell, Severin (6 May 2011). "Stunning SNP election victory throws spotlight on Scottish independence". The Guardian . London. Archived from the original on 5 December 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
    8. "Scottish election: SNP wins election". BBC News . 6 May 2011. Archived from the original on 12 January 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
    9. "Donald Dewar". www.parliament.scot. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
    10. "Alex Salmond". www.parliament.scot. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
    11. "Biography: Nicola Sturgeon". www.gov.scot. Archived from the original on 20 July 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
    12. "Biography: Humza Yousaf". www.gov.scot. Archived from the original on 7 May 2024. Retrieved 7 May 2024.