Parliamentary News Release

029/2003

Wednesday 14 May 2003

GUIDE TO SELECTION OF NOMINEES FOR APPOINTMENT AS FIRST MINISTER, MINISTERS AND JUNIOR MINISTERS

This note sets out information on the appointment process for the First Minister and Scottish Ministers.

Subject to final ratification of coalition negotiations, the Presiding Officer is expected to call a meeting of the Parliament at 2pm, Thursday 15 May. The meeting will take place in the Chamber in the Hub, Castlehill, Edinburgh.

At the meeting, the Parliament will be asked to agree a motion for the Parliament to select a nominee for First Minister for recommendation to Her Majesty the Queen. This motion will be printed in the Business Bulletin.

Subject to Parliament agreeing the motion, the selection process for the appointment for First Minister shall commence at 2.30pm.

Selection of the First Minister

The Scotland Act states that the election for the nomination of the First Minister must occur within 28 days of the election (i.e. on or before 28 May). The actual date will be determined by the Parliament on a motion of the Parliamentary Bureau.

Candidates are able to withdraw their candidature during any stage of the voting process on the day.
The voting process will take place in the Chamber in the Hub, Castlehill, Edinburgh and Members will vote using the electronic voting system.

Written nominations for First Minister have to be submitted to the Clerk no later than 30 minutes before the selection and voting process begins (i.e. nominations should be made by 2pm). Nomination forms will be made available to Members from the Chamber Desk from 9.30am on Thursday.

Nominations must be seconded by another Member who has already been sworn in.

Members will be informed of the candidates and asked to vote for one candidate only. Each candidate will be expected to speak for approximately five minutes in support of their nomination.

Counting of Votes

If a candidate wins more votes than the total number received by all other candidates and the total number of votes cast is more than a quarter of the total number of seats in the Parliament, that candidate will be elected.

Where there is only one candidate, Members will be asked to vote or abstain. If that candidate obtains a simple majority he or she will be declared as the Parliament's nomination.

Where there are two or more candidates and none gains an absolute majority in the first vote, successive rounds of voting will be held, with Members voting for one candidate in each round with the candidate receiving the fewest votes in each round being eliminated. This procedure is repeated until only one candidate remains or until a candidate receives more votes than the total number of votes for all the other candidates.

f the electronic voting system cannot be used or an unreliable result is produced the Presiding Officer has discretion to use any other manner of voting necessary to establish a result such as a roll-call vote.

The results of the votes will be made available to the media soon after the votes have been collated.

Appointment of Scottish Ministers

It is expected that a further meeting will be held next week to agree the First Minister's recommendation to Her Majesty the Queen for the appointment of Scottish Ministers and Junior Scottish Ministers.

Ministers in the Scottish Executive are appointed by the First Minister with the approval of The Queen.

Before seeking that approval, the First Minister requires the agreement of the Parliament. The First Minister will put a motion to the Parliament seeking its agreement to his or her proposal for the appointment of an individual Member to be a Minister or a group of Members to become Ministers.

The motion must be approved by a simple majority of Members, with the total number of votes cast greater than a quarter of the total number of seats in the Parliament.

Amendments to the motion are permissible under Standing Orders. Each amendment selected by the Presiding Officer will be voted on in turn.

Appointment of Junior Scottish Ministers

The same procedures, with any appropriate modifications, apply as those for the selection of other Scottish Ministers.

Media contacts

Enquiries regarding Government policy, past or present or statements and engagements by The First Minister, Scottish Ministers and Junior Scottish Ministers should be directed to the Scottish Executive.
The media contact number for the Scottish Executive's press office is 0131 244 1111.

MEDIA ACCESS TO THE HUB

There will be 25 seats available to the media in the Hub's press gallery. Accredited media may be restricted to one reporter per newspaper / broadcast programme if necessary.

It is likely that access for non-accredited media will be limited. Contact Parliament's Media Office for information.

For further information the media contact is:

For further information the Media Contact is:
Sally Coyne tel: 0131 348 5389
email: sally.coyne@scottish.parliament.uk

For public information enquiries, contact: 0131 34 85000

For general enquiries, contact: 0845 278 1999 (local call rate)
email: sp.info@scottish.parliament.uk
Visit our website at: www.scottish.parliament.uk