Date formed 16 May 2007 Head of government Alex Salmond Total no. of ministers 16 | Date dissolved 18 May 2011 Head of state Elizabeth II | |
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Member party Scottish National Party | ||
The first Salmond government, which was sworn in on 16 May 2007 at the start of the 3rd Scottish Parliament, was a Scottish National Party minority government.
Having won the largest number of seats in the general election (47 of 129) the SNP sought to form a coalition with the Scottish Liberal Democrats. When those talks failed, the SNP chose to form a one-party minority government. The SNP and Scottish Greens signed an agreement where the Greens supported SNP ministerial appointments, but did not offer support for any confidence or budget votes ("confidence and supply"). SNP leader Alex Salmond was elected first minister on 16 May 2007; his slate of ministerial appointments were ratified by the Scottish Parliament the following day.
History
On 16 May 2007, a few hours after Salmond was sworn in by parliament, he announced his intention to form a government composed of five cabinet secretaries and ten junior ministers. Furthermore, the Lord Advocate lost her seat in the cabinet.
A cabinet reshuffle took place in February 2009.