Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Parliament (Scottish Gaelic: Pàrlamaid na h-Alba; Scots: The Scots Pairlament) is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to informally as "Holyrood".

The Parliament is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), elected for four-year terms under the additional member system: 73 MSPs represent individual geographical constituencies elected by the plurality ("first past the post") system, while a further 56 are returned from eight additional member regions, each electing seven MSPs. The most recent general election to the Parliament was held on 5 May 2011.

The original Parliament of Scotland (or "Estates of Scotland") was the national legislature of the independent Kingdom of Scotland, and existed from the early 13th century until the Kingdom of Scotland merged with the Kingdom of England under the Acts of Union 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. As a consequence, both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England ceased to exist, and the Parliament of Great Britain, which sat at Westminster in London was formed.

First minister

A first minister is the leader of a government cabinet, usually now used to refer to the political leader of a subnational entity, such as the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, or of a dependent territory.

Canada

In Canada, "first ministers" is a collective term that refers to all of the Canadian first ministers of the Crown, otherwise known as heads of government, including the Prime Minister of Canada and the provincial and territorial premiers. It is used in such formulae as "first ministers' meetings".

In Newfoundland and Labrador, the Inuit self-governing region of Nunatsiavut provides for a first minister responsible to the Nunatsiavut Assembly.

Norway

The head of government of Norway was called first minister (Norwegian: førstestatsråd) between 1814 and 1873, while it was in personal union with Sweden. In 1893, 12 years prior to the dissolution of the union, it was changed to prime minister (statsminister).

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the term first minister was once used interchangeably with prime minister, such as when Winston Churchill stated: "I did not become His Majesty's First Minister so that I might oversee the liquidation of the British Empire!"

First Minister's Questions

First Minister's Questions is the name given to the weekly questioning of the leaders of devolved administrations in the United Kingdom. First Minister's Questions works in a similar way to Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons.

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland Questions to the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister (or simply First Minister's Questions) is taken jointly by the First Minister and deputy First Minister. This dyarchy is to enable the leaders of the main unionist and nationalist parties to work together in the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister. Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly are allowed half an hour to put questions to the ministers. The questions are tabled in advance by the MLAs.

Scotland

First Minister's Questions is the name given to Question Time in the Scottish Parliament, in the course of which the First Minister of Scotland spends half an hour on each Thursday that the parliament is in session answering questions from Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). There are additional sessions during the Parliamentary week at which other ministers are called upon to answer subject-specific and general questions.

Scottish

Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:

See also

Scottish Government

The Scottish Government (Scottish Gaelic: Riaghaltas na h-Alba; Scots: Scots Govrenment) is the executive of the devolved Scottish Parliament. The government was established in 1999 as the Scottish Executive under section 44(1) of the Scotland Act 1998, which created a devolved administration for Scotland in line with a the result of the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution. The government consists of cabinet secretaries, who attend cabinet meetings, and ministers, who do not. It is led by the first minister, who selects the cabinet secretaries and ministers with approval of parliament.

Responsibilities

The Scottish Government is responsible in Scotland for all issues that are not explicitly reserved to the British parliament at Westminster by Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998; such devolved matters include health, education, justice and policing, rural affairs, economic development and transport. The Scottish Government also has administrative responsibility for some matters where it does not have legislative power. An example is Sections 36 & 37 of the Electricity Act 1989 which allow the Scottish Government to authorise power transmission lines and grant power generation consents.