Swinney’s Continuity Cabinet

Yesterday John Swinney was sworn in as First Minister at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, and over the course of the afternoon and evening announced his new Cabinet Secretaries and ministerial team.

When he took over the reins in 2024, Swinney’s cabinet appointments favoured continuity. Once again, he has opted to go with experience over emerging talent. Today, he announced a smaller, slimmed down top team of eight Cabinet Secretaries with some slight reconfiguration of portfolios. Most are familiar faces, with only two new appointees at cabinet level, but he has shuffled the pack, moving existing players to new portfolios, and in doing so, signalling where his government’s policy emphasis is likely to land.

Speaking outside Bute House after the first round of key appointments, Swinney indicated that his priorities for the coming parliament will be growing the economy, tackling child poverty, improving public services, and delivering public sector reform. The public finances present major obstacles to those ambitions, as the Fraser of Allander Institute, amongst others, has pointed out. In his remarks yesterday afternoon, Swinney also indicated that he intends to lead from the front on the constitution; the debate about Scotland’s future is not going away.

Jenny Gilruth’s appointment as Deputy First Minister had not been widely anticipated, but it is telling that John Swinney has also handed her a Finance and Local Government brief that will be as crucial as it will be challenging in the coming years. Gilruth faced down considerable opposition in her previous role as Education Secretary to oversee the establishment of Qualifications Scotland in a sector that tends to resist change. She is noted for her resolve and has made no secret of her ambition. As Deputy First Minister in a minority administration, she will need to use all her diplomatic and negotiating skills not only to repair strained relationships with local government, itself facing enormous financial pressures, but also to build alliances across the chamber – no small feat in an environment of financial constraint.

Ivan McKee, one of the new faces around the cabinet table gets a well-deserved promotion that highlights the increased importance placed on his Public Sector Reform portfolio. McKee is perceived to have performed well in his previous ministerial role and is one of the few SNP MSPs with a background in industry. Making efficiencies in the public sector to balance the books while maintaining quality service provision will be one of the defining challenges of the next five years, and McKee may find his internal battles within government as testing as those he faces with opponents.

The other new cabinet appointee is Stephen Flynn, consistently spoken of as a possible successor to John Swinney as SNP leader, who has been handed the major brief of Economy, Tourism and Transport. In swapping Westminster for Holyrood Flynn has made his ambitions clear. He has demonstrated his sharp instincts, his appetite for the big stage, and his flair for the deadly one-line retort, but unlike the others in Cabinet, he is as yet untested in the business of government, of running a department and being held accountable for it. His new role offers him a prime opportunity to drive progress across a policy portfolio of huge strategic importance. He has his work cut out for him but will be keeping his eye on the prize.

Gillian Martin, who came through a tough electoral contest in Aberdeenshire to retain her seat, adds Rural Affairs to her Climate Action portfolio. Energy has disappeared from Martin’s job title, but it is yet to become clear whether any of her previous responsibilities for that policy area will remain within her climate action portfolio.

Neil Gray and Angela Constance effectively swap roles, with Gray moving to Justice and Constance taking on the Health and Care brief. Shirley-Anne Somerville stays at Social Justice but adds Housing to her brief, while Mairi McAllan, another potential contender to succeed John Swinney, moves to a new Education, Culture and Gaelic portfolio.

A number of new MSPs were invited into Bute House over the course of the late afternoon and evening, including new Shetland MSP, Hannah Mary Goodlad, who becomes Minister for Public Finance, former MP Alison Thewliss, now MSP for Glasgow Central, who becomes Minister for Community Care, Eastwood MSP Kirsten Oswald, who becomes Minister for Victims and Community Safety, and Simita Kumar, the new MSP for Edinburgh South Western, who takes on Equalities and International Development.

The energy portfolio has been the subject of much speculation given the sector’s strategic economic and political significance. Swinney has handed this responsibility to Stephen Gethins, MSP for Dundee City East, another experienced figure who has made the move from Westminster. Gethins is a former Special Advisor who brings an insider’s perspective to government. Gethins will be working directly to the First Minister, an indication of the importance Swinney attaches to the role, but opponents will be swift to point out that Gethins was expected to join the Cabinet, and that leaving him — and the energy portfolio — outside signals a downgrading of government ambitions for the sector. Gethins has also been given responsibility for Europe and External Affairs, so may play an influential role in government, but Stephen Flynn, who was angling for the energy job, may feel somewhat miffed.

We will have to wait to see who from among those recently elected will really make their mark in parliament. Swinney himself will be watching closely as he will want to put more emphasis on succession planning than his predecessors. The other parties, to whom the new government will need to extend a hand of constructive partnership, will be watching too as they nurture their own emerging talent.

The full Scottish Government ministerial team consists of:

First Minister, John Swinney

Minister for Europe, External Affairs & Energy, Stephen Gethins

Minister for Parliamentary Business & Veterans, Jamie Hepburn

Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government, Jenny Gilruth

Minister for Public Finance, Hannah Mary Goodlad (reporting jointly to the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service Reform)

Cabinet Secretary for Public Service Reform, Ivan McKee

Minister for Public Finance, Hannah Mary Goodlad (reporting jointly to the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government)

Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Neil Gray

Minister for Victims & Community Safety, Kirsten Oswald

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Care, Angela Constance

Minister for Community Care, Alison Thewliss

Minister for Mental Wellbeing, Public Health, Sport, Alcohol & Drugs, Maree Todd

Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Rural Affairs, Gillian Martin

Minister for Agriculture, Marine & the Islands, Jim Fairlie

Cabinet Secretary for Education, Culture and Gaelic, Màiri McAllan

Minister for Children, Young People, & The Promise, Siobhian Brown

Minister for Innovation, Technology & Tertiary Education, Ben Macpherson

Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice and Housing, Shirley-Anne Somerville

Minister for Equalities & International Development, Simita Kumar

Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Tourism and Transport, Stephen Flynn

Minister for Business & Fair Work, Tom Arthur