The First Minister of Scotland

First Minister of Scotland

The First Minister of Scotland is the political leader of Scotland and head of the Scottish Government. The First Minister chairs the Scottish Cabinet and is primarily responsible for the formulation, development and presentation of Scottish Government policy...

 is the political leader of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, and head of the Scottish Government. The First Minister chairs the Scottish Cabinet

Cabinet (government)

A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...

 and is primarily responsible for the formulation, development and presentation of Scottish government policy. The First Minister is a Member of the Scottish Parliament

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Member of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...

 (MSP), and is nominated by the Scottish Parliament

Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...

 before being officially appointed by the monarch

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

. Following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament and devolved Scottish Government were established, to give Scotland some measure of self governance in its domestic affairs. This devolution

Devolution

Devolution is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to government at a subnational level, such as a regional, local, or state level. Devolution can be mainly financial, e.g. giving areas a budget which was formerly administered by central government...

 resulted in administrative and legislative changes to the way Scotland was governed, and resulted in the establishment of a post of First Minister to be head of the devolved Scottish Government. Following the first Scottish Parliamentary elections on 6 May 1999, Scottish Labour Party

Scottish Labour Party

The Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland....

 leader Donald Dewar

Donald Dewar

Donald Campbell Dewar was a British politician who served as a Labour Party Member of Parliament in Scotland from 1966-1970, and then again from 1978 until his death in 2000. He served in Tony Blair's cabinet as Secretary of State for Scotland from 1997-1999 and was instrumental in the creation...

 was nominated as First Minister, and was officially appointed by the Queen on 17 May at a ceremony in the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Chronological list of First Ministers

No.		Portrait	Name (Birth–Death) Constituency/Title	Term of office		Political party of FM	Elected	Government	Deputy
	1		Donald Dewar Donald Dewar Donald Campbell Dewar was a British politician who served as a Labour Party Member of Parliament in Scotland from 1966-1970, and then again from 1978 until his death in 2000. He served in Tony Blair's cabinet as Secretary of State for Scotland from 1997-1999 and was instrumental in the creation... (1927–2000) MSP for Glasgow Anniesland Glasgow Anniesland (Scottish Parliament constituency) Glasgow Anniesland is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...	17 May 1999	11 October 2000†	Labour Scottish Labour Party The Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland....	1999 Scottish Parliament election, 1999 The Scottish Parliament election, 1999 was the first general election of the Scottish Parliament, with voting taking place on 6 May 1999 to elect 129 members...	Dewar Lab Scottish Labour Party The Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland....  – LD Scottish Liberal Democrats The Scottish Liberal Democrats are one of the three state parties within the federal Liberal Democrats; the others being the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Liberal Democrats in England...		Jim Wallace Jim Wallace The Rt. Hon. James Robert Wallace, Baron Wallace of Tankerness, PC, QC , is a British politician, currently a life peer in the House of Lords and the Advocate General for Scotland... (Liberal Democrat)
	2		Henry McLeish Henry McLeish Henry Baird McLeish is a Scottish Labour Party politician, author and academic. Formerly a professional association football player, McLeish was the Member of Parliament for Central Fife from 1987 to 2001 and the Member of the Scottish Parliament for Central Fife from 1999 to 2003, during which... (1948–) MSP for Central Fife	26 October 2000	8 November 2001	Labour Scottish Labour Party The Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland....	—	McLeish Lab Scottish Labour Party The Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland....  – LD Scottish Liberal Democrats The Scottish Liberal Democrats are one of the three state parties within the federal Liberal Democrats; the others being the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Liberal Democrats in England...		Jim Wallace Jim Wallace The Rt. Hon. James Robert Wallace, Baron Wallace of Tankerness, PC, QC , is a British politician, currently a life peer in the House of Lords and the Advocate General for Scotland... (Liberal Democrat)
	3		Jack McConnell Jack McConnell Jack Wilson McConnell, Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale is a British Labour life peer in the House of Lords. He was third First Minister of Scotland from 2001 to 2007, making him the longest serving First Minister in the history of the Scottish Parliament... (1960–) MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw Motherwell and Wishaw (Scottish Parliament constituency) Motherwell and Wishaw is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...	26 November 2001	16 May 2007	Labour Scottish Labour Party The Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland....	—	McConnell I Lab Scottish Labour Party The Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland....  – LD Scottish Liberal Democrats The Scottish Liberal Democrats are one of the three state parties within the federal Liberal Democrats; the others being the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Liberal Democrats in England...		Jim Wallace Jim Wallace The Rt. Hon. James Robert Wallace, Baron Wallace of Tankerness, PC, QC , is a British politician, currently a life peer in the House of Lords and the Advocate General for Scotland... 2001–2005 (LD) Nicol Stephen Nicol Stephen Nicol Ross Stephen, Baron Stephen of Lower Deeside in the City of Aberdeen is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament for Aberdeen South, and was leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2005 to 2008... 2005–2007 (LD)
							2003 Scottish Parliament election, 2003 The Scottish Parliament election, 2003, was the second general election of the Scottish Parliament. It was held on 1 May 2003 and it brought no change in terms of control of the Scottish Executive...	McConnell II Government of the 2nd Scottish Parliament The Executive of the 2nd Scottish Parliament was formed after the 2003 general election.- Second McConnell government :The Second McConnell government was a continuation of the previous Executive, Jack McConnell was re-appointed as First Minister on 20 May 2003 and headed another Labour/Liberal... Lab Scottish Labour Party The Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland....  – LD Scottish Liberal Democrats The Scottish Liberal Democrats are one of the three state parties within the federal Liberal Democrats; the others being the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Liberal Democrats in England...
	4		Alex Salmond Alex Salmond Alexander Elliot Anderson "Alex" Salmond MSP is a Scottish politician and current First Minister of Scotland. He became Scotland's fourth First Minister in May 2007. He is the Leader of the Scottish National Party , having served as Member of the Scottish Parliament for Gordon... (1954–) MSP for Gordon Gordon (Scottish Parliament constituency) Gordon was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament. It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the first past the post method of election...  until 2011 MSP for Aberdeenshire East Aberdeenshire East (Scottish Parliament constituency) Aberdeenshire East is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the first past the post method of election...  from 2011	16 May 2007	Incumbent	Scottish National Party Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....	2007 Scottish Parliament election, 2007 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...	Salmond I SNP Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....  (minority)		Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Sturgeon is the Deputy First Minister of Scotland, Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy, Deputy Leader of the Scottish National Party and Member for Glasgow Southside.... (SNP)
							2011	Salmond II SNP Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....

† Died in office.

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.