Third Sturgeon government | |
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9th Government of Scotland | |
2021 – 2023 | |
Date formed | 19 May 2021 |
Date dissolved | 28 March 2023 |
People and organisations | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II Charles III |
First Minister | Nicola Sturgeon |
First Minister's history | 2014–2023 |
Deputy First Minister | John Swinney |
No. of ministers | 27 |
Total no. of members | 27 |
Member parties |
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Status in legislature | Majority (coalition) cooperation and confidence and supply agreement between the SNP and the Greens 71 / 129 (55%) (August 2021–March 2023)Minority 64 / 129 (50%) (May–August 2021) |
Opposition cabinet | Opposition Parties |
Opposition party | |
Opposition leader | Douglas Ross |
History | |
Election(s) | 2021 Scottish Parliament election |
Legislature term(s) | 6th Scottish Parliament |
Predecessor | Second Sturgeon government |
Successor | First Yousaf 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. [1]
Sturgeon is the first First Minister to form a third government. Her cabinet, like her previous two, is 50/50 gender neutral. On 31 August 2021, the SNP and Scottish Greens entered a power-sharing arrangement which resulted in the appointment of two Green MSPs as junior ministers in the government, delivery of a shared policy platform, and Green support for the government on votes of confidence and supply. [2] [3]
Following Sturgeon’s decision to resign as Scottish First Minister and Leader of the SNP in February 2023, her government continued in a caretaker capacity until her successor, Humza Yousaf, was elected by the party at the end of the following month.
In the May 2021 Scottish Parliament election, the Scottish National Party (SNP) won 64 of the 129 seats contested. [4] Incumbent First Minister Nicola Sturgeon soon afterwards announced her intention to form a minority government. She was nominated for the post of first minister by a vote of the Scottish Parliament on 18 May, defeating Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross and Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie by 64 votes to 31 and 4 respectively.
Long standing ministers Jeane Freeman, Michael Russell, Roseanna Cunningham and Aileen Campbell did not seek re-election to the 6th Scottish Parliament, with Fiona Hyslop and Fergus Ewing standing down from government. [5] This left Sturgeon with many empty posts.
Shortly after being elected, Sturgeon re-appointed John Swinney as Deputy First Minister of Scotland and also appointed him the newly created Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery post. [6] Humza Yousaf, Kate Forbes, Shirley-Anne Somerville and Michael Matheson all remained in government. Shona Robison and Keith Brown made a return to cabinet, having previously served in Sturgeon's governments. Only Mairi Gougeon and Angus Robertson were new to cabinet. The Scottish Parliament confirmed the appointment of ministers and junior ministers on 20 May. [7]
In May 2021, both the Lord Advocate, James Wolffe, and Solicitor General for Scotland, Alison Di Rollo, announced their intention to step down as Scotland's top law officers. [8] On 17 June, Sturgeon nominated Dorothy Bain QC to serve as Lord Advocate and Ruth Charteris QC to serve as Solicitor General. This is the first time in history both posts have been held by women. [9]
On 20 August 2021, following two months of negotiations, the SNP and Scottish Greens announced a new power-sharing agreement. [10] [11] While not an official coalition, it would be the first time in both Scottish and UK history that Green politicians would be in government. [12] [13] The Greens hold two ministerial posts. [14] The agreement will see both parties pledge for a second referendum on Scottish independence, an increase investment in active travel and public transport, enhancing tenants rights, a ten-year £500m Just Transition and establishing a National Care Service. [15] [16]
On 21 February 2023, Sturgeon chaired her final meeting of her third cabinet following her resignation the previous month. [17] It was also Deputy First Minister John Swinney's final attendance to a Scottish Cabinet, having served under First Minister Alex Salmond and Sturgeon from 2007 until 2023. [18]
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Law officers [23] | |||
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Post | Name | Portrait | Term |
Lord Advocate | The Rt Hon. Dorothy Bain KC | 2021–2023 | |
Solicitor General for Scotland | Ruth Charteris KC | 2021–2023 |
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.
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.
Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2014 to 2023. She has served as a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) since 1999, first as an additional member for the Glasgow electoral region, and as the member for Glasgow Southside from 2007.
Shona McRory Robison is a Scottish politician who has served as Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government since 2023. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she previously served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland from 2023 to 2024. Robison has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Dundee City East since 2003 and was an additional member for the North East Scotland region from 1999 to 2003.
In Scotland, the Scottish National Party (SNP) is a left social democratic political party which campaigns for Scottish independence. The SNP has controlled Scotland's devolved legislature since the 2007 election as a minority government, and were a majority government from the 2011 election and have been a minority government, since the 2016 election.
Patrick Harvie is a Scottish politician who served as Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants' Rights from 2021 to 2024. He has served as one of two co-leaders of the Scottish Greens since 2008, and is one of the first Green politicians in the UK to serve as a government minister. Harvie has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Glasgow region since 2003.
Shirley-Anne Somerville is a Scottish politician who has served as Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice in the devolved Scottish government since 2023. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Dunfermline since 2016, having previously served as an additional member for the Lothians region from 2007 to 2011.
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.
Alex Salmond formed the second Salmond government on 19 May 2011 following his Scottish National Party's landslide victory in the 2011 election to the 4th Scottish Parliament. This was the first single-party majority government in the history of the devolved parliament. Salmond's second government ended on 18 November 2014 upon his resignation as First Minister of Scotland.
Ashten Regan is a Scottish politician. She has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Edinburgh Eastern since 2016. Initially elected to parliament for the Scottish National Party (SNP), she defected to the Alba Party. Regan served under First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as the minister for community safety from 2018 until she resigned in 2022 in protest against her government's Gender Recognition Reform bill.
Kate Elizabeth Forbes is a Scottish politician who has served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland and Cabinet Secretary-designate for Economy and Gaelic since May 2024. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she previously served as Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy from 2020 to 2023. Forbes has been Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch since 2016.
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.
The 6th Scottish Parliament was elected at the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. It was opened with the Escort to the Crown of Scotland Parade and Speech from the Throne on 2 October 2021.
Nicola Sturgeon's term as first minister of Scotland began on 20 November 2014 when she was formally sworn into office at the Court of Session. It followed Alex Salmond's resignation following the defeat of the Yes campaign in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. She is the first female and longest serving officeholder. Sturgeon's premiership was dominated by Brexit, which she used as an argument to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence, however, opposition from the UK Government, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the cost of living crisis and the ruling against her government holding an advisory referendum would be obstacles for Sturgeon securing her legacy of gaining Scottish independence. Sturgeon's term ended on 29 March 2023, following her resignation announcement on 15 February, in which she claimed occupational burnout was the reason for her resignation.
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.
Humza Yousaf formed the first Yousaf government on 29 March 2023 following his appointment as first minister of Scotland at the Court of Session. It followed the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon as first minister and leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) on 15 February, triggering a leadership contest that Yousaf won.