The first Salmond government, which was sworn in on 17 May 2007 at the start of the

3rd Scottish Parliament This is a list of members (MSPs) returned to the third Scottish Parliament at the 2007 Scottish Parliament election. Of the 129 MSPs, 73 were elected from first past the post constituencies with a further 56 members being returned from eight r ...

, was an SNP

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...

. Having won the largest number of seats in the general election (47 of 129) the SNP sought to form a coalition with the Scottish Liberal Democrats. When those talks failed, the SNP chose to form a one-party minority government. The SNP and Scottish Greens signed an agreement where the Greens supported SNP ministerial appointments, but did not offer support for any confidence or budget votes ("confidence and supply"). SNP leader, Alex Salmond was elected First Minister on 16 May 2007; he was officially sworn in and his slate of ministerial appointments were ratified by the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

the following day.

History

Due to the agreement signed with the Greens, Salmond's investiture vote was successful despite only having 47 of 129 seats in the Parliament. The vote was 49–46, with the SNP and Greens voting in favour and the 46 Scottish Labour MSPs voting against, with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats abstaining. On 16 May 2007, a few hours after Salmond was sworn in by parliament, he announced his intention to form a government composed of five cabinet secretaries and ten junior ministers. Furthermore, the Lord Advocate lost her seat in the cabinet. A cabinet reshuffle took place in February 2009.

Cabinet

May 2007 to February 2009

2007 to 2011

Changes

* Fiona Hyslop is demoted from Cabinet and appointed

Minister for Culture and External Affairs The Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture, commonly referred to as the Economy Secretary or the Culture Secretary, was a Scottish Government Cabinet position with responsibility for the economy and culture of Scotland. The role ...

; Hyslop is replaced as Education Secretary by Michael Russell. *

John Elvidge Sir John William Elvidge KCB, FRSE (born 9 February 1951) is the former Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government. He was appointed in July 2003, replacing Sir Muir Russell. He retired from the post in June 2010. Early life He was born ...

stood down as the

Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government The Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government is the most senior civil servant in Scotland who leads more than 7000 staff within the Scottish Government and has oversight of around 125 agencies. The permanent secretary supports the Scottish ...

in June 2010 and was succeeded by Peter Housden.

Junior Ministers

Scottish Law Officers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salmond ministry, First Salmond, first 2007 establishments in Scotland 2011 disestablishments in Scotland Ministries of Elizabeth II