The Scottish National Party is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party. The party holds 63 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 43 out of the 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons in Westminster. It has 453 local councillors of 1,227.
John Ramsay Swinney is a Scottish politician who has served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since May 2024. He previously served as the leader of the SNP from 2000 to 2004 as Leader of the Opposition, and held various roles within the Scottish Cabinet from 2007 to 2023 under First Ministers Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon. Swinney was Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for North Tayside from 1999 to 2011 and, following boundary changes, has been MSP for Perthshire North since 2011. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Tayside North from 1997 to 2001.
The politics of Scotland operate within the constitution of the United Kingdom, of which Scotland is a country. Scotland is a democracy, being represented in both the Scottish Parliament and the Parliament of the United Kingdom since the Scotland Act 1998. Most executive power is exercised by the Scottish Government, led by the First Minister of Scotland, the head of government in a multi-party system. The judiciary of Scotland, dealing with Scots law, is independent of the legislature and the Scottish Government. Scots law is primarily determined by the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Government shares some executive powers with the Scotland Office, a British government department led by the Secretary of State for Scotland.
The first minister of Scotland, formally the First Minister and Keeper of the Scottish Seal, is the head of the Scottish Government and the keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland. The first minister chairs the Scottish Cabinet and is primarily responsible for the formulation, development, and presentation of the Scottish Government's policies. Additional functions of the first minister include promoting and representing Scotland in an official capacity, at home and abroad.
James Alexander Stewart Stevenson is a Scottish former politician who served as Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change from 2007 to 2010 and Minister for Environment and Climate Change from 2011 to 2012. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he was Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Banffshire and Buchan Coast, formerly Banff and Buchan, from 2001 to 2021.
Robert Hardie Bruce Crawford is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who served as Cabinet Secretary for Parliamentary Business and Government Strategy from 2011 to 2012, having held the junior ministerial position of Minister for Parliamentary Business from 2007 to 2011. Crawford served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Stirling from 2007 to 2021, having previously represented the Mid Scotland and Fife region 1999–2007.
Richard Neilson Lochhead is a Scottish politician serving as the Minister for Business since 2023. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he served as the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and Environment from 2007 to 2016. Lochhead has been a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) since 1999, first representing North East Scotland electoral region from 1999 to 2006, before representing the Moray constituency since 2006.
Fiona Jane Hyslop is a Scottish politician who has served as Cabinet Secretary for Transport since 2024. Hyslop is the only current serving minister from the first SNP government having served in various cabinet and junior ministerial offices under first ministers Alex Salmond, Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf; first as education secretary from 2007 to 2009, then culture secretary from 2009 to 2020, and latterly as economy secretary from 2020 to 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Linlithgow constituency since 2011, having represented the Lothians region from 1999 to 2011.
In British politics, a Lib–Lab pact is a working arrangement between the Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party.
The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999. Local elections in Scotland fell on the same day.
Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond is a Scottish politician, economist and television host, who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure in the Scottish nationalist movement, he has served as Leader of the Alba Party since 2021. Salmond was leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), on two occasions, from 1990 to 2000 and from 2004 to 2014. He served as the party's depute leader from 1987 to 1990. Salmond hosted The Alex Salmond Show (2017–2022) on RT UK. He currently hosts Scotland Speaks with Alex Salmond (2023–present).
The 2021 Scottish Parliament election took place on 11 May 2021, under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. All 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament were elected in the sixth election since the parliament was re-established in 1999. The election was held alongside the Senedd election, English local elections, London Assembly and mayoral election and the Hartlepool by-election.
The 2014 Scottish National Party leadership election was held to choose the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and First Minister of Scotland, following the resignation of Alex Salmond as first minister and leader. Nicola Sturgeon emerged as the only candidate and was elected unopposed as leader of the SNP.
Nicola Sturgeon formed the second Sturgeon government following her Scottish National Party's victory in the 2016 Scottish Parliament election. Sturgeon was nominated by a vote of the 5th Scottish Parliament for appointment to the post of first minister on 17 May 2016. She was subsequently appointed by Queen Elizabeth II on 18 May, and announced formation of a new Scottish National Party minority government.
Nicola Sturgeon formed the third Sturgeon government following her Scottish National Party's victory in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. Sturgeon was nominated by a vote of the 6th Scottish Parliament for appointment to the post of First Minister on 18 May 2021 and announced the formation of a new Scottish National Party minority government on 19 May.
Alex Salmond's term as first minister of Scotland began on 17 May 2007 when he was formally sworn into office at the Court of Session. It followed his Scottish National Party's win at the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, where his party defeated the incumbent Labour Party by just one seat. Salmond's term ended on 18 November 2014, following his resignation in the aftermath of the Yes campaign's defeat in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.
The Alex Salmond scandal refers to the political scandal in Scotland concerning the behaviour of former First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, and his successor, former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. The scandal created a feud within the Scottish National Party and a ministerial code investigation into Sturgeon conducted by James Hamilton concluded that she did not break the ministerial code over her conduct with Salmond.
The Bute House Agreement, officially the Cooperation Agreement between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Green Party Parliamentary Group was a power-sharing agreement between the Scottish National Party (SNP) government and the Scottish Greens which was agreed in August 2021 to support the Third Sturgeon government and then was reaffirmed to support the First Yousaf government.
Nicola Sturgeon served as deputy first minister of Scotland under First Minister Alex Salmond from 2007 until she succeeded Salmond in 2014. She was the first woman to hold office. Sturgeon, in parallel to serving as deputy first minister, served as the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing from 2007 to 2012 and Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Capital Investment and Cities from 2012 to 2014.
In April 2024, Humza Yousaf, first minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), faced a confidence challenge following his termination of the Bute House Agreement between the SNP and the Scottish Greens, which meant that Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater, co-leaders of the Greens and their only government ministers, were removed from government. This was following changes to landmark climate policy by Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy Màiri McAllan, after which a planned Greens vote on the continuation of the agreement was announced. Facing a motion of confidence in him Yousaf announced his intention to resign as first minister and party leader on 29 April.
