John Swinney drops minister for independence role
Jamie Hepburn - who previously held the post - takes over from George Adam as minister for parliamentary business.
Last updated 9th May 2024
New First Minister John Swinney has dropped the post of minister for independence in his ministerial team.
Jamie Hepburn - who previously held the post - takes over from George Adam as minister for parliamentary business.
The role of minister for independence was the first of its kind when it was created by Humza Yousaf when he appointed his first team last year.
Cabinet jobs
The team of 14 ministers was announced late last night after Mr Swinney announced Cabinet appointments earlier in the day.
Mr Swinney announced a largely unchanged Cabinet team on Wednesday, though Kate Forbes replaces Shona Robison as deputy First Minister, with Ms Robison remaining Finance Secretary.
Earlier this week Mr Swinney said he would "seek, with respect and courtesy, to persuade people of the case for independence".
Later on Thursday, Mr Swinney will take part in First Minister's Questions as First Minister for the first time.
READ MORE: "A new chapter" says John Swinney
In the junior ministerial team Ivan McKee has returned to government as minister for public finance while minister for equalities, migration and refugees Emma Roddick, and minister for local government empowerment and planning Joe Fitzpatrick have stepped down from their previous roles.
Team of ministers
Consisting of 11 Cabinet secretaries, including the First Minister, the Scottish Cabinet is supported by 14 ministers, reducing the size of the Scottish Government by four since the start of the year.
Richard Lochhead is minister for business while Tom Arthur is minister for employment and investment, and Natalie Don is minister for children, young people and The Promise and Graeme Dey is minister for higher and further education.
Siobhian Brown is minister for victims and community safety and Gillian Martin is minister for climate action, while Jim Fairlie is minister for agriculture and connectivity.
The minister for public health and women's health is Jenni Minto while Maree Todd is minister for social care, mental wellbeing and sport and Christina McKelvie is minister for drugs and alcohol policy, the minister for equalities is Kaukab Stewart and Paul McLennan is minister for housing.
John Swinney through the years
John Swinney's parliamentary career began at Westminster. While Tony Blair's New Labour swept to power in the 1997 election he became the MP for North Tayside, what was once one of the safest Conservative seats in Scotland.
Along with a young Nicola Sturgeon, John Swinney was a prominent party figure as Alex Salmond led the SNP into the election for the first Scottish Parliament in nearly 300 years in 1999. They were pictured together at the campaign launch.
John Swinney was elected to the North Tayside constituency seat in the first Holyrood election in 1999, and is now among a handful of MSPs who have been there since day 1. He was given a place in Alex Salmond's shadow cabinet as spokesman on Enterprise and Lifelong Learning.
In 2000, Alex Salmond resigned as leader of the SNP. He beat Alex Neil winning 67% of the vote. But the party saw a decline in its fortunes losing seats at both the UK General Election in 2001 and the second Scottish Parliament election in 2003. After more poor results in the European Elections in 2004 he resigned, with Alex Salmond making a shock comeback to the leadership.
Alex Salmond led the SNP to an historic victory, by the narrowest of margins, in the 2007 Scottish election and formed a minority government. John Swinney was given one of the most senior Cabinet positions as Finance Secretary, a job he did until 2016.
In 2016, serving Nicola Sturgeon as the her Deputy First Minister he switched portfolios to take over as Education Secretary. In 2020 he faced a motion of no confidence following controversy about the perceived unfairness of the SQA grading system when school exams were cancelled by the Covid-19 lockdown.
John Swinney served as Deputy First Minister to Nicola Sturgeon for almost 9 years. Defending him during the confidence motion in the exams scandal she described him as: "one of the most decent and dedicated people in Scottish politics". He also resigned when Nicola Sturgeon quit, saying it had been "an honour to serve Scotland."
In 2003 John Swinney married the TV news reporter Elizabeth Quigley, at Saint Peter's Parish Church in Morningside in Edinburgh. They have a son, Matthew, born in 2010, and he has two children from his first marriage. Elizabeth has been living with Multiple Sclerosis since 2000.
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