First Minister of Scotland - Powers

Powers

The role and powers of the First Minister are set out in Sections 45 to 49 of the Scotland Act 1998.

Following their appointment, the First Minister may then nominate ministers to sit in the Scottish Cabinet and Junior Ministers to form the Scottish Government. Ministers, hold office at Her Majesty's Pleasure and may be removed from office, at any time, by the First Minister. The First Minister also has the power to appoint the Chief Legal Officers of the Scottish Government - the Lord Advocate and the Solicitor General but only with the support of the Scottish Parliament.

The First Minister is responsible to the Scottish Parliament for his/her actions and the actions of the overall Scottish Government. MSPs can scrutinise the activities of the First Minister and his Cabinet by tabling written questions or by asking oral questions in the Scottish Parliament. Direct questioning of the First Minister takes place each Thursday at noon, when Parliament is sitting. The 30 minute session enables MSPs to ask questions of the First Minister, on any issue. The leaders of the largest opposition parties have an allocation of questions and are allowed to question the First Minister each week. Opposition leaders normally ask an opening question to the First Minister, relating to his meeting with the Scottish Cabinet, or when he next expects to meet the Prime Minister, and then follow this up by asking a supplementary question on an issue of their choosing.

In addition to direct questioning, the First Minister is also able to deliver oral statements to the Scottish Parliament chamber, after which members are invited to question the First Minister on the substance of the statement. For example, at the beginning of each parliamentary term, the First Minister normally delivers a statement, setting out the legislative programme of the Government, or a statement of government priorities over the forthcoming term.

Associated with the office of First Minister, there is also the post of Deputy First Minister. Unlike the office of First Minister, the post of Deputy is not recognised in statute and confers no extra status on the holder. Like the First Minister, the Deputy First Minister is an elected Member of the Scottish Parliament and a member of the Scottish Government. From 1999 to 2007, when Scotland was governed by a Labour/Liberal Democrat coalition, the leader of the Liberal Democrats - the junior government party, was given the role of Deputy First Minister; a title which they held in conjunction with another ministerial portfolio. For example, Nicol Stephen, Deputy First Minister from 2005 to 2007, simultaneously held the post of Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning.

On two occasions since 1999, the Deputy First Minister has assumed the role of 'Acting' First Minister, inheriting the powers of the First Minister in their absence or incapacitation. From 11 October 2000 to 26 October 2000, following the death in office of the then First Minister Donald Dewar, his deputy Jim Wallace became Acting First Minister, until the Labour party appointed a new leader, and consequently First Minister. Wallace also became Acting First Minister between 8 November 2001 and 22 November 2001, following the resignation of Henry McLeish.

An officer with such a title need not always exist; rather, the existence of the post is dependent on the form of Cabinet organisation preferred by the First Minister and his or her party. The Deputy First Minister does not automatically succeed if a vacancy in the premiership is suddenly created. It may, however, be necessary for the Deputy to stand in for the First Minister on occasion, for example by taking the floor at First Minister's Question Time.