Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born 19 July 1970) is a Scottish politician serving as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since 2014. She is the first woman to hold either position. She has been a member of ...

formed the second Sturgeon government following her

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

's victory in the

2016 Scottish Parliament election The 2016 Scottish parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2016 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the fifth election held since the devolved parliament was established in 1999. It was the first parliamentary electi ...

. Sturgeon was nominated by a vote of the

5th Scottish Parliament This is a list of Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) who were returned to the fifth session of the Scottish Parliament. Of the 129 MSPs returned at the 2016 general election, 73 were returned from first past the post constituencies with a ...

for appointment to the post of

first minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of '' ...

on 17 May 2016. She was subsequently appointed by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

on 18 May, and announced formation of a new

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 ...

. The second Sturgeon government was an SNP minority administration and despite the

whipping Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on an ...

and resignation of some MSPs, this was also returned by

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

opposition MSPs. Like the previous, it consisted of 50/50 gender balance cabinet; 5 men and 5 women. As part of wide criticism of policies, the resignation of many members and in response to the

Brexit negotiations Between 2017 and 2019, representatives of the United Kingdom and the European Union negotiated the terms for Brexit, the planned withdrawal of the UK from the EU. These negotiations arose following the decision of the Parliament of the United ...

, Sturgeon conducted a major

cabinet reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the Head of State changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parlia ...

in 2018. Following the resignation of

Derek Mackay Derek Mackay (born 1977) is a Scottish politician who served as the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work from 2016 to 2020. A former member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he served as the Member of the Scottish Parliam ...

Finance Secretary The Finance Secretary () is the administrative head of the Ministry of Finance. This post is held by senior IAS officer of the rank of Secretary to Government of India. T. V. Somanathan is the incumbent Finance Secretary. As a Secretary to Go ...

in 2020, Sturgeon performed a minor reshuffle of her cabinet. The government dissolved on 20 May 2021, following the 2021 election to the

6th Scottish Parliament The 6th Scottish Parliament was elected at the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. It was opened with the Escort to the Crown of Scotland Parade and Speech from the Throne on 2 October 2021. Composition Government parties denoted with bullets (� ...

, which returned the SNP on seat short of a majority and Sturgeon later forming a third administration with a deal with the

Scottish Greens The Scottish Greens (also known as the Scottish Green Party; gd, Pàrtaidh Uaine na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Green Pairtie) are a green political party in Scotland. The party has seven MSPs in the Scottish Parliament as of May 2021. As of the 20 ...

, creating a pro-independence majority.

History

Formation of government

In the May 2016 Scottish Parliament election, the Scottish National Party (SNP) won 63 of the 129 seats contested. Incumbent First Minister

soon afterwards announced her intention to form a minority government. She was nominated for the post of

by a vote of 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 ...

on 17 May, defeating

Scottish Liberal Democrat The Scottish Liberal Democrats ( gd, Pàrtaidh Libearal Deamocratach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Leeberal Democrats) is a liberal, federalist political party in Scotland, a part of the United Kingdom Liberal Democrats. The party currently holds 4 o ...

leader, Willie Rennie by 63 votes to 5, with 59 abstentions. Ahead of the formation of the new government, long-serving ministers Alex Neil and

Richard Lochhead Richard Neilson Lochhead (born 24 May 1969) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who is Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work and has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Moray since 2006. He was previou ...

announced their resignations from the cabinet. Sturgeon recommended the appointment of

James Wolffe Walter James Wolffe FSAScot FRIAS (born 20 December 1962) is a Scottish advocate who served as Lord Advocate from 2016 to 2021. He previously served as Dean of the Faculty of Advocates from 2014 to 2016, and Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Advo ...

Lord Advocate , body = , insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg , insigniasize = 110px , image = File:Official Portrait of Dorothy Bain QC.png , incumbent = Dorothy Bain KC , incumbentsince = 22 June 2021 , appointer = Monarch on the advice ...

and

Alison Di Rollo Alison Di Rollo KC () is a Scottish advocate who served as Solicitor General for Scotland from 2016 to 2021. Education Di Rollo attended Hutchesons' Grammar School and was the Head Girl in 1978/9. She was also the Vice-Captain of the hock ...

as Solicitor General on 31 May 2016. Their recommendation was confirmed by the Scottish Parliament on the same day.

2018 cabinet reshuffle

On the 26 June 2018, Sturgeon announced a cabinet reshuffle. Long standing ministers such as

Shona Robison Shona McRory Robison (born 26 May 1966) is a Scottish politician serving as the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government since 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been the Member of the Scottish ...

and

Angela Constance Angela Constance (born 15 July 1970) is a Scottish politician serving as Minister for Drug Policy since 2020, having previously served in the Scottish Cabinet from 2014 to 2018. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been the M ...

announced their resignation due to personal circumstances, with Keith Brown resigning to take his role as SNP Depute Leader.

Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People The Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People was a position in the Scottish Government Cabinet. The Cabinet Secretary had overall responsibility for social security, equality and human rights. The Cabinet Secretary was assisted by a ...

was promoted to cabinet-level with more

social security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

powers handed to the

2020 cabinet reshuffle

On the 6 February 2020, on the day of the Scottish Budget, Nicola Sturgeon accepted

Derek MacKay Derek Mackay (born 1977) is a Scottish politician who served as the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work from 2016 to 2020. A former member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he served as the Member of the Scottish Parliam ...

's resignation following an article by the

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

newspaper of inappropriate messages sent to a 16-year-old boy.

Kate Forbes Kate Elizabeth Forbes is a Scottish politician who has served as Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy since 2020. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Skye, Loch ...

, then Minister for Public Finance, delivered the Scottish Budget, with Sturgeon later promoting Forbes to Finance Secretary.

Final months

Sturgeon accepted the resignation of

Joe FitzPatrick Joseph Martin FitzPatrick (born 1 April 1967) is a Scottish politician who is a member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), and has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Dundee City West since the 2007. He is Convener of the Sc ...

, Minister of Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing, following Scotland's record high drug deaths. Sturgeon appointed

Mairi Gougeon Mairi Angela Gougeon ( née Evans; born 23 April 1985) is a Scottish politician who has served as Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands since 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been the Member of the Scottis ...

to succeed FitzPatrick, with Angela Constance re-entering government to serve as Minister for Drug Policy. In the latter half of Sturgeon's administration, she and her government led the Scottish Government's response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Cabinets

May 2016 to June 2018

June 2018 to February 2020

February 2020 to May 2021

Junior Ministers

Scottish Law Officers

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sturgeon ministry, Second Scottish governments 2016 establishments in Scotland Nicola Sturgeon Ministries of Elizabeth II