Scottish Government

Scottish Government Scottish Government
State level	Scotland
Position of the authority	Scottish Cabinet
Consist	since July 1, 1999
Headquarters	St. Andrew's House Edinburgh
household	£ 37.2 billion (2016-17)
Coordinates	55 ° 57 '12.2 "  N , 3 ° 11' 2.7"  W Coordinates: 55 ° 57 '12.2 "  N , 3 ° 11' 2.7"  W.
First Minister	Nicola Sturgeon
Website	www.gov.scot

The Scottish Government (English: Scottish Government, Gaelic: Riaghaltas na h-Alba, Scots: Scots Govrenment ), under the leadership of the First Minister , has been responsible for most aspects of Scotland's domestic policy since 1999 . Nicola Sturgeon from the SNP has been First Minister since November 19, 2014 .

history

Scotland was united with England to form the Kingdom of Great Britain by the Act of Union 1707 . After the Labor Party won the general election in 1997 , the newly elected Prime Minister Tony Blair held a referendum in Scotland. The Scottish population voted overwhelmingly for a separate parliament with limited powers within the UK. Since 1999 a separate parliament, first minister (comparable to prime ministers and state governors) and cabinet have been responsible for most aspects of domestic policy. The official seat of these institutions is St. Andrew's House in Edinburgh .

Interior view of the Scottish Parliament

In 1999 the government was still referred to as the Scottish Executive . From 2007 at the latest, however, the term Scottish Government was used. The Scottish government under Alex Salmond ( SNP ), which has had an absolute majority in parliament since the 2011 election , announced that it would hold a vote on independence during the current legislative period. On October 15, 2012, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Salmond agreed on a time and key points for the referendum. On September 18, 2014, Scottish citizens had a final vote on whether Scotland should become a sovereign, independent state or remain part of the United Kingdom. According to the official final result of the vote, which was available on the morning of September 19, 2014, the majority of eligible voters voted no the day before when asked whether Scotland should be an independent country and separate from Great Britain. 55.3 percent voted against and 44.7 percent for a spin-off. The voter turnout was extremely high at 84.6 percent.

After Salmond's resignation after the failed independence referendum , Nicola Sturgeon of the SNP has been Scotland's First Minister since November 19, 2014 .

After the general election in 2016 , Nicola Sturgeon was re-elected First Minister by the Scottish Parliament on May 17, 2016 , and the Sturgeon II cabinet was formed on May 18, 2016. The government is a minority government of the Scottish National Party , which has a majority in the 2016 general election Mandates won but missed an absolute majority by 2 mandates.

Members of the current Sturgeon II cabinet

Office of the First Minister
Office	Official	image	Political party
First Minister	Nicola Sturgeon		SNP
Ministry of Education and Skills
Office	Official	image	Political party
Deputy First Minister, Minister of Education and Skills	John Swinney		SNP
State Secretary for Childcare and Youth	Maree Todd		SNP
State Secretary for Continuing Education, Higher Education and Science	Richard Lochhead		SNP
State Secretary for the Economy, Fair Work and Professional Qualifications	Jamie Hepburn (Also works with Derek Mackay, Secretary of the Treasury, Economic Affairs and Just Labor)		SNP
Ministry of Finance, Economy and Fair Work
Office	Official	image	Political party
Minister of Finance, Economy and Fair Work	Derek Mackay		SNP
State Secretary for Public Finance and Digital Economy	Kate Forbes		SNP
State Secretary for Trade, Investment and Innovation	Ivan McKee		SNP
State Secretary for the Economy, Fair Work and Professional Qualifications	Jamie Hepburn (also works with John Swinney, Secretary of State for Education and Skills)		SNP
Ministry of Health and Sport
Office	Official	image	Political party
Minister for Health and Sport	Jeane Freeman		SNP
State Secretary for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing	Joe FitzPatrick		SNP
State Secretary for Mental Health	Clare Haughey		SNP
Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform
Office	Official	image	Political party
Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform	Roseanna Cunningham		SNP
State Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment	Mairi Gougeon (Also works with Fergus Ewing, Minister of Agriculture and Connectivity)		SNP
Ministry of Culture, Tourism and External Relations
Office	Official	image	Political party
Minister for Culture, Tourism and External Relations	Fiona Hyslop		SNP
State Secretary for Europe, Migration and International Development	Ben Macpherson		SNP
Ministry of Municipalities and Local Government
Office	Official	image	Political party
Minister for Municipalities and Local Government	Aileen Campbell		SNP
State Secretary for Local Government, Housing and Planning	Kevin Stewart		SNP
Ministry of Justice
Office	Official	image	Political party
Minister of Justice	Humza Yousaf		SNP
State Secretary for General Security	Ash Denham		SNP
Ministry of Agriculture and Connectivity
Office	Official	image	Political party
Minister of Agriculture and Connectivity	Fergus Ewing		SNP
State Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment	Mairi Gougeon (Also works with Roseanna Cunningham, Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform)		SNP
Ministry of Social Security and Elderly
Office	Official	image	Political party
Minister for Social Security and the Elderly	Shirley-Anne Somerville		SNP
State Secretary for the Elderly and Equality	Christina McKelvie		SNP
Ministry of Government and Constitutional Affairs
Office	Official	image	Political party
Minister for Government Affairs and Constitutional Affairs	Michael Russell		SNP
State Secretary for Parliamentary Affairs and Veterans	Graeme Dey		SNP
Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity
Office	Official	image	Political party
Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity	Michael Matheson		SNP
Secretary of State for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands	Paul Wheelhouse		SNP

Justice officials * (Law officers)	Surname	since
Lord Advocate	James Wolffe	2016
Solicitor General for Scotland	Alison Di Rollo	2016

^* The judicial officers are counted among the members of the cabinet, but are not ministers or state secretaries and have not attended cabinet meetings since 2007.

Heads of Government of Scotland since 1999

Surname	Political party	Beginning of the term of office	Term expires	Reason for the end of the term of office
Donald Dewar	Scottish Labor Party	May 7, 1999	October 11, 2000	died during his tenure
Henry McLeish	Scottish Labor Party	October 27, 2000	November 8, 2001	Resignation due to the Officegate affair
Jack McConnell	Scottish Labor Party	November 22, 2001	May 16, 2007	Lost in the Scottish general election in 2007
Alex Salmond	Scottish National Party	May 16, 2007	19th November 2014	Resignation after failed independence referendum
Nicola Sturgeon	Scottish National Party	19th November 2014	officiating

Parliaments and cabinets since 1999

Legislative period	Cabinets
1st Scottish Parliament (1999-2003)	* Dewar (1999–2000) * McLeish (2000–01) * McConnell I (2001–03)
2nd Scottish Parliament (2003-07)	* McConnell II (2003-07)
3. Scottish Parliament (2007-11)	* Salmond I (2007-11)
4th Scottish Parliament (2011-16)	* Salmond II (2011-14) * Sturgeon I (2014-16)
5th Scottish Parliament (2016–)	* Sturgeon II (2016–)

Web links

Commons : Scottish Government  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Scottish Government website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Scots become more difficult. ntv.de, May 8, 2011
2. ↑ Spiegel online
3. ↑ Referendum on independence. The Scots said no. on tagesschau.de, September 19, 2014, accessed on September 19, 2014.