The Minister for Business and Employment is a

Junior minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry (government department), ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is desi ...

ial post in the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

. As a result, the Minister does not attend the Scottish Cabinet. The post was retitled in June 2025, with the Minister supporting the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic,

Kate Forbes Kate Elizabeth Forbes (born 6 April 1990) is a Scottish politician who has served as deputy first minister of Scotland, Deputy First Minister of Scotland and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic since May 2024. A member of the Scottish Natio ...

History

From 1999 to 2007, enterprise and energy were the responsibility of the Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning. The

Second McConnell government The second McConnell government (20 May 2003 – 16 May 2007) was formed following the 2003 general election to the 2nd Scottish Parliament. Jack McConnell was re-appointed as First Minister on 20 May 2003 and headed another Labour– Liber ...

from 2003 to 2007 instituted Tourism as a portfolio, combined with Culture and Sport, as the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport. The Salmond government, elected following the

2007 Scottish Parliament election The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999. 2007 Scottish local elections, ...

created the junior post of Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism by combining the roles. In November 2014 his post became the Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism, as part of the first Sturgeon government. The post was retitled as Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy as part of the second Sturgeon government, and renamed again in June 2018 to Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills. Upon the creation of the

third Sturgeon Government Nicola Sturgeon formed the third Sturgeon government following her Scottish National Party's victory in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. Sturgeon was nominated by a vote of the 6th Scottish Parliament for appointment to the post of First ...

, the post was once more retitled as Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise. In March 2023,

Humza Yousaf Humza Haroon Yousaf (; born 7 April 1985) is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from March 2023 to May 2024. He served under his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon as Scottish ...

renamed the role Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade and appointed

Richard Lochhead Richard Neilson Lochhead (born 24 May 1969) is a Scottish politician serving as the Minister for Business and Employment since 2023. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he served as the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and ...

to the position. In his streamlining of government upon becoming First Minister in May 2024,

John Swinney John Ramsay Swinney (born 13 April 1964) is a Scottish politician who has served as First Minister of Scotland, first minister of Scotland since 2024. Swinney has served as Leader of the Scottish National Party, leader of the Scottish National ...

renamed the post Minister for Business. In June 2025, Swinney abolished the position of Minister for Employment and Investment and the employment portfolio was absorbed into the new role of Minister for Business and Employment, with Lochhead continuing in post.

List of office holders

The current Minister for Business is

References

External links

Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy
on Scottish Government website Business, Fair Work and Skills Economy of Scotland Business in Scotland

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

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History

List of office holders

See also

References

External links