List of first ministers of Scotland

Top left: Donald Dewar was the first ever first minister of Scotland.
Top right: Jack McConnell was the youngest first minister on the day he was sworn in.
Bottom left: Alex Salmond was the first SNP politician to serve as first minister.
Bottom right: Nicola Sturgeon is the current and first female first minister and longest serving first minister.

The First Minister of Scotland is the leader of the Scottish Government, Scotland's devolved government. 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 the wider world. 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.

Currently, the First Minister is Nicola Sturgeon of the Scottish National Party (SNP), who succeeded Alex Salmond in November 2014 following his resignation after the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Sturgeon has led the Government of the 6th Scottish Parliament since 2021. Sturgeon, and before that, Alex Salmond, previously 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 Scottish Parliament.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Sturgeon is the longest-serving First Minister, having surpassed Salmond on 25 May 2022.^[5] Salmond in turn spent a total of 7 and a half years in the role. Donald Dewar was the first person to hold the position.

Chronological list of first ministers of Scotland

	Name (birth and death) Constituency	Term of office			Political party	Term (Election)	Ministry		Monarch
1	Donald Dewar (1937–2000)^[a] MSP for Glasgow Anniesland	13 May 1999	11 October 2000	1 year, 151 days	Scottish Labour	1st (1999)	Dewar Lab – LD	Jim Wallace (LD) (19 May 1999 – 23 June 2005)	Elizabeth II
—	Jim Wallace (acting)^[b] MSP for Orkney	11 October 2000	27 October 2000	16 days	Scottish Liberal Democrats		Dewar Lab – LD
2	Henry McLeish (born 1948) MSP for Central Fife	27 October 2000	8 November 2001	1 year, 12 days	Scottish Labour		McLeish Lab – LD
—	Jim Wallace (acting)^[c] MSP for Orkney	8 November 2001	27 November 2001	19 days	Scottish Liberal Democrats		McLeish Lab – LD
3	Jack McConnell (born 1960) MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw	27 November 2001	16 May 2007	5 years, 170 days	Scottish Labour		McConnell I Lab – LD
						2nd (2003)	McConnell II Lab – LD
						2nd (2003)	McConnell II Lab – LD	Nicol Stephen (LD) (27 June 2005 – 17 May 2007)
4	Alex Salmond (born 1954) MSP for Gordon until 2011 MSP for Aberdeenshire East from 2011	17 May 2007	18 November 2014	7 years, 185 days	Scottish National Party	3rd (2007)	Salmond I SNP (minority)	Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) (17 May 2007 – 19 November 2014)
4		17 May 2007	18 November 2014	7 years, 185 days		4th (2011)	Salmond II SNP	Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) (17 May 2007 – 19 November 2014)
5	Nicola Sturgeon (born 1970) MSP for Glasgow Southside	20 November 2014	Incumbent	9 years, 60 days		4th (2011)	Sturgeon I SNP	John Swinney (SNP) (21 November 2014 – present)
						5th (2016)	Sturgeon II SNP (minority)
						6th (2021)	Sturgeon III SNP – Green (co-operation, from Aug 2021)		Charles III

Timeline

References

Notes

^ Died in office.
^ Served as acting First Minister in the aftermath of Dewar's death.
^ Served as acting First Minister following McLeish's resignation.

Citations

^ Wintour, Patrick (4 May 2007). "SNP wins historic victory". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 23 March 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
^ "Scottish elections 2007". The Guardian. London. 15 January 2008. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
^ 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.
^ "Scottish election: SNP wins election". BBC News. 6 May 2011. Archived from the original on 12 January 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
^ Duffy, Judith (25 May 2022). "Sturgeon sets new record for longest term as FM". The National. Retrieved 25 May 2022.

External links

Scottish Government web site

[6] Died in office.

[7] Served as acting First Minister in the aftermath of Dewar's death.

[8] Served as acting First Minister following McLeish's resignation.

[1] Wintour, Patrick (4 May 2007). "SNP wins historic victory". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 23 March 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2016.

[2] "Scottish elections 2007". The Guardian. London. 15 January 2008. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2016.

[3] 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.

[4] "Scottish election: SNP wins election". BBC News. 6 May 2011. Archived from the original on 12 January 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.

[5] Duffy, Judith (25 May 2022). "Sturgeon sets new record for longest term as FM". The National. Retrieved 25 May 2022.

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v t e Lists of Members of the Scottish Parliament
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