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List of first ministers of Scotland facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
  • 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.

Sturgeon is the longest-serving First Minister, having surpassed Salmond on 25 May 2022. 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
  • Indicates appointed without an election
  • (—) Indicates acting first minister
  • Indicates died in office
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 First Minister.jpg 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 Queen Elizabeth II official portrait for 1959 tour (retouched) (cropped) (3-to-4 aspect ratio).jpg
Elizabeth II
(1952–2022)
(—) Jim Wallace 1999.jpg Jim Wallace
(born 1954)
MSP for Orkney
11 October 2000 27 October 2000 16 days Liberal Democrat
(1st)
Caretaker Vacant
2 Official Portrait of Henry McLeish, 2000.jpg 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.jpg Jim Wallace
(born 1954)
MSP for Orkney
8 November 2001 27 November 2001 19 days Liberal Democrat
(1st)
Caretaker Vacant
3 JackMcConnellPortrait.jpg 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, First Minister of Scotland (cropped).jpg 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
2011
(4th)
Salmond II
5 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon official portrait (cropped).jpg 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
2016
(5th)
Sturgeon II
2021
(6th)
Sturgeon III
King Charles III (July 2023).jpg
Charles III
(2022–present)
6 Official portrait of first minister Humza Yousaf, 2023 (cropped).jpg Humza Yousaf
(born 1985)
MSP for Glasgow Pollok
Premiership
29 March 2023 Incumbent 1 year, 269 days SNP
(6th)
Yousaf Shona Robison

Timeline of Scottish first ministers

Nicola Sturgeon Alex Salmond Jack McConnell Henry McLeish Jim Wallace Donald Dewar
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