• Top left: Donald Dewar was the first ever first minister of Scotland.
  • Top right: Alex Salmond was the first SNP politician to serve as first minister.
  • Bottom left: Nicola Sturgeon was the first female and longest serving first minister.
  • Bottom right: Humza Yousaf is the current, youngest and first minority ethnic 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 Humza Yousaf of the Scottish National Party (SNP), who succeeded Nicola Sturgeon in March 2023 following her resignation in February 2023. Yousaf has led the Government of the 6th Scottish Parliament since 2023. 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. Henry McLeish is the shortest-serving First Minister, having served in the role for 1 year and 12 days.

List of First Ministers of Scotland

The parties shown are those to which the first ministers belonged to at the time they held office, and the constituencies shown are those they represented while in office.

Political parties
  Scottish Labour Party
  Scottish Liberal Democrats
  Scottish National Party
  Scottish Conservatives
Status

  Background and italics indicates caretaker First Minister

Legend
No. Portrait Name
(birth–death)
constituency 		Term of office Party Election
(parliament) 		Government Deputy Monarch
(reign) 		Ref.
Took office Left office Tenure
1 Donald Dewar
(1937–2000)
MSP for Glasgow Anniesland
Premiership 		17 May 1999 11 October 2000† 1 year, 147 days Labour 1999
(1st) 		Dewar Jim Wallace
Elizabeth II
(1952–2022) 		[6]
(—) Jim Wallace
(born 1954)
MSP for Orkney 		11 October 2000 27 October 2000 16 days Liberal Democrat —
(1st) 		Caretaker Vacant
2 Henry McLeish
(born 1948)
MSP for Central Fife
Premiership 		27 October 2000 8 November 2001 1 year, 12 days Labour —
(1st) 		McLeish Jim Wallace
(—) Jim Wallace
(born 1954)
MSP for Orkney 		8 November 2001 27 November 2001 19 days Liberal Democrat —
(1st) 		Caretaker Vacant
3 Jack McConnell
(born 1960)
MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw
Premiership 		27 November 2001 16 May 2007 5 years, 170 days Labour —
(1st) 		McConnell I Jim Wallace
2003
(2nd) 		McConnell II
Nicol Stephen
4 Alex Salmond
(born 1954)
MSP for Gordon (until 2011)
MSP for Aberdeenshire East (from 2011)
Premiership 		17 May 2007 18 November 2014 7 years, 185 days SNP 2007
(3rd) 		Salmond I Nicola Sturgeon [7]
2011
(4th) 		Salmond II
5 Nicola Sturgeon
(born 1970)
MSP for Glasgow Southside
Premiership 		20 November 2014 28 March 2023 8 years, 128 days SNP —
(4th) 		Sturgeon I John Swinney [8]
2016
(5th) 		Sturgeon II
2021
(6th) 		Sturgeon III

Charles III
(2022–present)
6 Humza Yousaf
(born 1985)
MSP for Glasgow Pollok
Premiership 		29 March 2023 Incumbent 1 year, 21 days SNP —
(6th) 		Yousaf Shona Robison

Timeline of Scottish first ministers

Humza YousafNicola SturgeonAlex SalmondJack McConnellHenry McLeishJim WallaceDonald Dewar


References

Notes

Citations

  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. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  6. ^ "Donald Dewar". www.parliament.scot. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  7. ^ "Alex Salmond". www.parliament.scot. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  8. ^ "Biography: Nicola Sturgeon". www.gov.scot. Archived from the original on 20 July 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2023.

External links

Lists of members of the Scottish Parliament
Scottish devolution
Categories