Democracy in Scotland: Video playlist

The leader of the Scottish Government is known as the First Minister of Scotland.

Officially they are appointed by the monarch, but that’s after they’ve been elected by members of the Scottish Parliament.

Technically, any MSP can become First Minister, but in practice it’s normally the MSP who leads the biggest political party here at Holyrood.

This is Bute House in Edinburgh, the official residence of the First Minister.

Now the First Minister is ultimately in charge of many important areas such as the health system, education and transport.

But they don’t look after all of this on their own.

They select other MSPs to become cabinet secretaries who are in charge of a certain brief.

For example, the Cabinet Secretary for Health is in charge of the health system.

The cabinet secretaries meet here in the Cabinet Room at Bute House.

Now cabinet is the main decision making body of the Scottish Government.

They meet to discuss the running of the country and any issues that might need to be addressed.

The cabinet is chaired by the First Minister.

The First Minister also selects more junior government ministers, who rank below cabinet secretaries, and help them to do their job.

At any point, the First Minister can shake up his team and change the people who are in charge at certain departments.

The First Minister can also approve deals with other political parties, which can help to give the government more stability.

So, the First Minister has a political team and the support of non-political civil servants to help make their plans a reality.

But ultimately, it’s the first Minister who’s responsible for anything and everything the government does, from policies to budgets.

They’re also often the face of Scotland and help to represent the country abroad.

The First Minister may be in charge, but they do face restrictions on their power.

If the government wants to pass a new law or a budget, they have to get a majority of MSPs in the Scottish Parliament to back it.

This may involve getting other political parties on site. If MSPs lose faith in the Scottish Government, they can vote to remove it, including the First Minister from office.

And the First Minister also faces losing their job if their own political party decides that they want to change leader.

The First Minister regularly faces scrutiny, such as questions from journalists like me and, of course, questions from MSPs here in the chamber at Holyrood.

There’s a weekly 45 minute session known as First Minister’s Questions or FMQs, where MSPs get to quiz the First Minister on a number of issues.

Many of these questions are unknown in advance, so the First Minister has to be able to think on their feet.

So from running many of the services we rely on to answering questions here in the Holyrood chamber, to representing Scotland abroad and anything else that might come up, that’s the role of Scotland’s First Minister.