Everything about First Minister Of Scotland totally explained
The
First Minister of Scotland (; ) is the head of the
devolved Scottish Government, which was established in 1999 along with the
Scottish Parliament. The First Minister heads the
Scottish Cabinet and is primarily responsible for the formulation, development and presentation of Scottish government policy. Additional functions of the First Minister include promoting and representing Scotland, in an official capacity, at home and abroad and responsibility for constitutional affairs, as they relate to devolution and the Scottish Government. He was elected as the Parliament's nominee for First Minister on
16 May,
2007 and was sworn in at the
Court of Session the following day.
History
Following a
referendum in 1997, in which the Scottish electorate gave their consent; a Scottish Parliament and devolved Scottish Government were established by the
Labour government of
Tony Blair. The process was known as
devolution and was initiated to give Scotland some measure of
home rule or self governance in its domestic affairs, such as
health,
education and
justice. Devolution 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. The term "First Minister" is analogous to the use of
Premier to denote the heads of government in
sub-national entities, such as the
provinces and territories of
Canada,
provinces of
South Africa and the
states of
Australia. Prior to devolution the comparable functions of the First Minister were exercised by the
Secretary of State for Scotland, who headed the
Scottish Office, which was a department of the wider
United Kingdom Government and existed from 1885 to 1999. The Secretary of State was a member of the
British Cabinet and appointed by the
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to have responsibility for the domestic affairs of Scotland. Since 1999, the Secretary of State has a much reduced role as a result of the transfer of responsibilities to the Scottish Parliament and Government. The current incumbent
Des Browne holds the post whilst simultaneously (and separately) being the
Secretary of State for Defence.
Term
There is no term of office for a First Minister. The First Minister is a
Member of the Scottish Parliament and like all ministers in the Scottish Government, holds office "at Her Majesty's pleasure". However to gain supply (control of exchequer funds) the government must be answerable to, and acceptable to, the Scottish Parliament, in reality the convention "at her Majesty's pleasure" means "Scottish Parliament". Whenever the office of First Minister falls vacant, the Sovereign is responsible for appointing the new incumbent; the appointment is formalised at a meeting between the First Minister designate and the Sovereign. In accordance with the Scotland Act, the Sovereign must appoint the individual who has been nominated by the Scottish Parliament to serve as First Minister. As a consequence, it's normally determined by Parliament that the leader of the largest party, or the leader of any
coalition that's formed in the Parliament, be nominated to Her Majesty for appointment - although this need not be the case. Theoretically, any member of the Scottish Parliament, from any party grouping represented there, can be nominated to the monarch for appointment. The oath is tendered by the
Lord President of the Court of Session at a sitting of the Court in
Parliament House in Edinburgh. The Act specifies than an election to the Scottish Parliament will be held on the first Thursday in May, every four years, starting from 1999.
The First Minister, once appointed continues in office as the head of the devolved Scottish Government until either they resign, are dismissed (in reality something not likely to happen except in exceptional circumstances) or die in office. Resignation can be triggered off by the passage of a
Motion of No Confidence in the First Minister or the Scottish Government or by rejecting a
Motion of Confidence in the Scottish Parliament.
Associated with the office of First Minister, there's also the post of
Deputy First Minister.
Unlike the office of First Minister, the post of Deputy isn't recognised in statute and confers no extra status on the holder. Like the First Minister, the Deputy First Minister is an elected Member of the Scottish Parliament and a member of the Scottish Government. From 1999 to 2007, when Scotland was governed by a Labour/Liberal Democrat coalition, the leader of the Liberal Democrats - the junior government party, was given the role of Deputy First Minister; a title which they held in conjunction with another ministerial portfolio. For example,
Nicol Stephen, Deputy First Minister from 2005 to 2007, simultaneously held the post of Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning.
On two occasions since 1999, the Deputy First Minister has assumed the role of 'Acting' First Minister, inheriting the powers of the First Minister in their absence or incapacitation. From
11 October 2000 to
26 October 2000, following the death in office of the then First Minister
Donald Dewar, his deputy
Jim Wallace became Acting First Minister, until the Labour party appointed a new leader, and consequently First Minister. Wallace also became Acting First Minister between
8 November 2001 and
22 November 2001, following the resignation of
Henry McLeish. The scale of precedence in Scotland was amended by
Royal Warrant on
30 June 1999 to take account of devolution and the establishment of the post of First Minister. This can be compared to the UK Prime Minister who is entitled to draw a total salary of £187,611, composed of a basic
MP salary of £60,277 and an additional office holders salary of £127,334. As a consequence Alex Salmond has pledged to donate the £17,697 he's entited to, to a charitable trust to be set up in his mother's name, thereby only drawing his MP's salary and ministerial pay. The house became the property of the
National Trust for Scotland in 1966, after the death of the previous owner
John Crichton-Stuart, 4th Marquess of Bute and remains in the ownership of the National Trust. The First Minister also has an office in the
Scottish Parliament Building.
Appointments to the
Privy Council of the United Kingdom are made by the
monarch, although in practice they're made only on the advice of the
UK government. To date all First Ministers have been appointed
members of the Privy Council, and therefore entitled to use the title '
Right Honourable'. The First Minister is also one of the few individuals in Scotland officially permitted to fly the banner of the
Royal Arms of Scotland, or
Lion Rampant as it's more commonly known.
List of First Ministers
Further Information
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