Role and Powers of the FM Flashcards
What are the three roles and powers of the FM?
Lead the Scottish government
Appoint and reshuffle cabinet ministers and secretaries
Represent Scotland at home and abroad
What is a cabinet secretary?
An MSP who is responsible for a specific area of devolution i.e education
Who is the education secretary?
Jenny Gilruth
Who the secretary for finance?
Shona Robison (she is also depute FM)
What does it mean to lead the scottish government?
One role of the First Minister of Scotland is to lead the Scottish Government. This means that the First
Minister makes the final decision on what each of the departments of government do in devolved areas
such as health and education.
Who sets out priorities for the Scottish Government and responds to public events as they happen?
The First Minister
Who is the First Minster
John Swinney
In order for a law to be passed the FM needs at least half of the 129 MSPs to vote in favour.
True
What scandal has Humza Yousaf recently offered condolences for?
Those affected by the Postmaster Scandal
What is one of Humza Yousaf’s main priorities for his government?
Tackling all forms of poverty in the name of equality.
What did former FM Nicola Sturgeon lead the Scottish Government to introducing for free?
Free travel for all under 22s
What does it mean for the FM to represent Scotland at home and abroad?
This means as the head of the Scottish
government it is their responsibility to speak and act on behalf of Scotland in areas that are devolved.
The FM is responsible for representing Scotland in the media attending news interviews …
True
Where did Humza Yousaf travel to, to seek support for Scotland’s case for re-joining the EU
Brussels
What does it mean to appoint secretaries and ministers
As First Minister they will select other MSPs from the Scottish Parliament to take
responsibility for the different departments of the Scottish Government.
Why does appointing ministers and secretaries make the FM powerful?
They choose people who support and strengthen their cause and it makes them appear very powerful and it strengthens their position in power
The FM is very powerful as they get lots of media attention and they can be very vocal about issues important to them
True - Humza Yousaf used this power to push for calls for a ceasefire
Why does the Gender Reform Act make the FM look weak?
As westminster blocked a bill that Scotland had pushed so heavily for and had the final say.
As the First Minister one of their roles is to choose who is in charge of each government department this means that they have the power to reward those loyal to them and punish or remove those they don’t think are good enough. Powerful or not powerful?
powerful
As the government doesn’t have a majority in parliament other parties can try and get their policies passed in a deal with the government but only if the First Minister approves it. powerful or not powerful?
Not powerful
What political party do the SNP have to rely on to pass their budgets and bills?
The Greens
during
the Covid-19 Pandemic Scotland couldn’t close the borders to international travel as only
Westminster and the Prime Minister have that power.
True
Even
though they are in charge of the government and have a lot of power
because of the number of MSPs they have in parliament, they must
still go there every week and answer questions that sometimes
embarrass them and their government. Powerful or nor powerful?
Not powerful
the First Minister has had to agree a deal with the Greens so that their governments budget passed each year since 2016.
True
