List of First Ministers of Scotland

The First Minister of Scotland is the leader of the Scottish Government, Scotland's devolved administration. 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.

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Currently, the fifth First Minister of Scotland is Nicola Sturgeon of the Scottish National Party (SNP), who succeeded Alex Salmond in November 2014 following his resignation after the defeat of the secession campaign in the Scottish independence referendum. Sturgeon leads the fourth government of the Scottish Parliament 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]

The longest-serving First Minister is Alex Salmond, who surpassed Jack McConnell on 7 November 2012 and spent a total of 7 and a half years in the role.[5] Donald Dewar was the first person to hold the position.

Chronological list of First Ministers of Scotland
No. Portrait Name
(birth and death)
Constituency		 Term of office Political party Elected Government Deputy First Minister
1 Donald Dewar
(1937–2000)†
MSP for Glasgow Anniesland		 17 May
1999		 11 October
2000		 1 year, 147 days Labour 1999 Dewar
Lab – LD		 Jim Wallace
(Liberal Democrat)
— Jim Wallace (acting) 11—26 October 2000 (15 Days) Liberal Democrats
2 Henry McLeish
(1948–)
MSP for Central Fife		 26 October
2000		 8 November
2001		 1 year, 13 days Labour — McLeish
Lab – LD
— Jim Wallace (acting) 8—22 November 2001 (14 Days) Liberal Democrats
3 Jack McConnell
(1960–)
MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw		 22 November
2001		 16 May
2007		 5 years, 171 days Labour — 1st McConnell
Lab – LD		 Jim Wallace
2001–2005 (LD)
Nicol Stephen
2005–2007 (LD)
2003 2nd McConnell
Lab – LD
4 Alex Salmond
(1954–)
MSP for Gordon until 2011
MSP for Aberdeenshire East from 2011		 16 May
2007		 20 November
2014		 7 years, 187 days Scottish National Party 2007 1st Salmond
SNP (minority)		 Nicola Sturgeon
(SNP)
2011 2nd Salmond
SNP
5 Nicola Sturgeon
(1970–)
MSP for Glasgow Southside		 20 November
2014		 Incumbent 5 years, 267 days — 1st Sturgeon
SNP		 John Swinney
(SNP)
2016 2nd Sturgeon
SNP (minority)

† Died in office.

Timeline
Nicola SturgeonAlex SalmondJack McConnellHenry McLeishDonald Dewar

References
  1. Wintour, Patrick (4 May 2007). "SNP wins historic victory". The Guardian. London.
  2. "Scottish elections 2007". The Guardian. London. 15 January 2008.
  3. Carrell, Severin (6 May 2011). "Stunning SNP election victory throws spotlight on Scottish independence". The Guardian. London.
  4. "Scottish election: SNP wins election". BBC News. 6 May 2011.
  5. "Longest-serving first minister Salmond will not 'go on and on'". BBC News. 7 November 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
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