NICOLA Sturgeon has made huge changes to her Cabinet, with Keith Brown, Shona Robison and Angela Constance all leaving government.
The First Minister’s reshuffle, her first in two years, saw promotions for Jeanne Freeman and Humza Yousaf, and changes to the portfolio and structure of government.
Sturgeon, who is expected to make further announcements today, said the new appointments would “bring fresh talent to the Scottish Government and ensures that we are fully equipped to meet the challenges and opportunities facing the country in the months and years ahead”.
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Yousaf moves from transport to justice, replacing Michael Matheson who takes on a new Cabinet Secretary post looking after transport, infrastructure and connectivity.
Derek Mackay becomes Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work, and will be supported by a team of ministers including a minister for business, a minister for public finance and the digital economy, and a minister for trade, investment and innovation.
Jeane Freeman becomes the first of the 2016 intake of MSPs to make Cabinet, and will replace Robison as the Health Secretary.
Her old job as Social Security Minister has been bumped up to a Cabinet-level position, and will be taken on by Shirley-Anne Somerville.
Aileen Campbell becomes Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government, while Brexit Minister Michael Russell joins the Cabinet with responsibility for government business and constitutional relations. It effectively means keeping his old job but also taking on a responsibility to ensure “that the Government’s wider programme of work is not affected”.
John Swinney, Roseanna Cunningham, Fergus Ewing and Fiona Hyslop will all remain in their current posts.
The First Minister said: “Those appointments, together with the reshaped portfolios announced today, mean that people can have confidence that the Scottish Government will continue to deliver for people, public services and communities the length and breadth of the country.
“People already have high trust in the Scottish Government to look after their interests, and I am determined that this new, refreshed Cabinet will continue to repay that trust.”
Sturgeon also paid tribute to Robison, Brown and Constance.
In a letter to the First Minister offering her resignation, Robison said she had recently been through a difficult time: “As you know this last year has been particularly challenging for me personally, losing both my parents, having a health scare of my own, and some big changes in my personal life.”
The Dundee MSP added: “I feel that I have reached a point in my life just now where I would be best to step down from a role in government. I have entered a new chapter of my life, including a new relationship, were it would be good to take time to focus on those closest to me, who have too often had to come second place to my job, which has been hard for us all.”
Describing her as “one of the nation’s finest elected representatives”, the First Minister said she would continue to seek Robison’s “counsel as a colleague and a friend”.
Meanwhile, Brown, the SNP’s recently elected depute leader will become a “standing campaign director” for the SNP, preparing for the possibility of a “snap UK election at any time” as well as indyref2,
Brown’s departure from government marked the beginning of the First Minister’s Cabinet reshuffle.
The First Minister said Brown had done “an excellent job as a government minister over many years” but that “the time is right to ensure that the energies of the SNP leader and depute leader team are focused not just on delivering a strong SNP Government, but also a party operation that is from top to bottom, fit and ready for the opportunities that lie ahead.”
Sturgeon added: “To ensure we can deliver the best future for Scotland we must be ready for a snap UK election at any time, and we must also begin the hard work of building a policy platform on which to seek the support of the people of Scotland in the next Holyrood election.”
Alasdair Allan, Annabelle Ewing, and Maureen Watt are also leaving the Government.
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