First Ministers of Scotland - History

History

Following a referendum in 1997, in which the Scottish electorate gave their consent, a Scottish Parliament and devolved Scottish Government were established by the Labour government of Tony Blair. The process was known as devolution and was initiated to give Scotland some measure of home rule or self-governance in its domestic affairs, such as health, education and justice. Devolution resulted in administrative and legislative changes to the way Scotland was governed, and resulted in the establishment of a post of First Minister to be head of the devolved Scottish Government. The term "First Minister" is analogous to the use of Premier or Governor to denote the heads of government in sub-national entities, such as the provinces and territories of Canada, provinces of South Africa, and the states of Australia. Prior to devolution the comparable functions of the First Minister were exercised by the Secretary of State for Scotland, who headed the Scottish Office, which was a department of the wider United Kingdom Government and existed from 1885 to 1999. The Secretary of State was a member of the British Cabinet and appointed by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to have responsibility for the domestic affairs of Scotland. Since 1999, the Secretary of State has a much reduced role as a result of the transfer of responsibilities to the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government.