15.05.2007
The Presiding Officer has called a meeting of the Parliament at 10 am on Wednesday 16 May in the Debating Chamber at the Scottish Parliament.
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.
Subject to Parliament agreeing the motion, the selection process for the appointment of First Minister shall commence at 10.30 am that day.
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 30 May).
Written nominations for First Minister have to be submitted to the Clerk by 10 am Wednesday 16 May. Nominations must be seconded by another Member.
Members will be informed of the nominees by the Presiding Officer and asked to vote for one nominee only. Each nominee is expected to speak (in alphabetical order) for approximately five minutes in support of their nomination.
If a nominee wins more votes than the total number received by all other nominees and the total number of votes cast is more than a quarter of the total number of seats in the Parliament, that nominee will be selected as the Parliament’s nominee to Her Majesty as First Minister.
Where there is only one nominee, Members will be asked to vote or abstain. If that nominee obtains a simple majority he or she will be selected as the Parliament's nomination.
Where there are two nominees, one is selected if he or she gains a simple majority over the other.
Where there are more than two nominees and none gains an absolute majority in the first vote, successive rounds of voting will be held, with Members voting for one nominee in each round with the nominee receiving the fewest votes in each round being eliminated.
This procedure is repeated until only one nominee remains or until a nominee receives more votes than the total number of votes for all the other nominees.
Appointment of Scottish Ministers
It is expected that a further meeting will be held at 11.15 am on Thursday 17 May 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 on Thursday 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.