# Second Salmond government

Alex Salmond formed the second Salmond government on 19 May 2011 following his Scottish National Party's landslide victory in the 2011 election to the 4th Scottish Parliament. This was the first single-party majority government in the history of the devolved parliament. Salmond's second government ended on 18 November 2014 upon his resignation as First Minister of Scotland.

## History
### 2011 to 2012

On 18 May 2011, after Salmond was re-elected as first minister, his cabinet was increased in size, from five cabinet secretaries to eight. Nicola Sturgeon was re-appointed as Deputy First Minister and Health Secretary. John Swinney, Kenny McAskill and Richard Lochhead all remained in cabinet, with Fiona Hyslop returning, having served as Education Secretary from 2007 to 2009. Bruce Crawford and Alex Neil were promoted to cabinet.

### 2012 to 2013

In September 2012, Salmond made a snap reshuffle in light of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Neil switched roles, with Sturgeon taking on responsibility for the independence referendum. Bruce Crawford announced his retirement from government.

### 2013 to 2014

In 2014, Shona Robison and Angela Constance were promoted to cabinet. Robison oversaw relations for the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and Constance saw matters of employment.
Salmond announced his resignation as leader of the Scottish National Party on 19 September 2014 following the Scottish independence referendum; his resignation as SNP Leader took effect on 14 November when Nicola Sturgeon was elected unopposed to replace him.
On the 18 November, Salmond officially resigned as first minister and two days later Sturgeon formed her first government, dissolving Salmond's cabinet.

## Cabinet

* This article is part of a series aboutAlex Salmond
Political positions
Scottish independence
Social nationalism
Electoral History
MP for Banff and Buchan
MSP for Banff and Buchan
MSP for Aberdeenshire East
MP for Gordon
Leader of the SNP (1990–2000; 2004–2014)
1990 leadership election
1997 referendum
1999 election
2004 leadership election
First Minister of Scotland (2007–2014)
Premiership
International visits
First Ministry
2007 election
Free Tuition Fees
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi's Release
Glasgow Airport attack
Second Ministry
2011 election
2014 European election
2014 referendum
Resignation
Post Premiership
Sexual harassment scandal
Leader of the Alba Party (2021–2024)
2021 election
Indyref2
UK general elections
1987
1992
1997
2001
2005
2015
2017 :
vte :

### May 2011 to September 2012

Cabinet :
| Post | Minister | Term |
| First Minister | The Rt Hon. Alex Salmond MSP | 2007–2014 |
| Deputy First Minister | Nicola Sturgeon MSP | 2007–2014 |
| Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy | Nicola Sturgeon MSP | 2007–2012 |
| Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth | John Swinney MSP | 2007–2014 |
| Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning | Michael Russell MSP | 2009–2014 |
| Cabinet Secretary for Parliamentary Business and Government Strategy | Bruce Crawford MSP | 2011–2012 |
| Cabinet Secretary for Justice | Kenny MacAskill MSP | 2007–2014 |
| Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment | Richard Lochhead MSP | 2007–2014 |
| Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs | Fiona Hyslop MSP | 2011–2014 |
| Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment | Alex Neil MSP | 2011–2012 |

### September 2012 to November 2014

Cabinet :
| Post | Minister | Term |
| First Minister | The Rt Hon. Alex Salmond MSP | 2007–2014 |
| Deputy First Minister | Nicola Sturgeon MSP | 2007–2014 |
| Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Capital Investment and Cities | Nicola Sturgeon MSP | 2012–2014 |
| Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth | John Swinney MSP | 2007–2014 |
| Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning | Michael Russell MSP | 2009–2014 |
| Cabinet Secretary for Justice | Kenny MacAskill MSP | 2007–2014 |
| Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment | Richard Lochhead MSP | 2007–2014 |
| Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs | Fiona Hyslop MSP | 2011–2014 |
| Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing | Alex Neil MSP | 2012–2014 |
| Cabinet Secretary for Training, Youth and Women’s Employment | Angela Constance MSP | 2014 |
| Cabinet Secretary for Commonwealth Games, Sport, Equalities and Pensioners' Rights | Shona Robison MSP | 2014 |

## Junior ministers

Junior ministers :
| Post | Minister | Term |
| Minister for External Affairs and International Development | Humza Yousaf MSP | 2011–2014 |
| Minister for Public Health | Michael Matheson MSP | 2011–2014 |
| Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism | Fergus Ewing MSP | 2011–2014 |
| Minister for Local Government and Planning | Aileen Campbell MSP | 2011 |
| Minister for Local Government and Planning | Derek Mackay MSP | 2011–2014 |
| Minister for Children and Young People | Angela Constance MSP | 2011–2014 |
| Minister for Children and Young People | Aileen Campbell MSP | 2011–2014 |
| Minister for Learning and Skills | Dr Alasdair Allan MSP | 2011 |
| Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland's Languages | Dr Alasdair Allan MSP | 2011–2014 |
| Minister for Parliamentary Business and Chief Whip | Brian Adam MSP | 2011–2012 |
| Minister for Parliamentary Business | Joe FitzPatrick MSP | 2012–2014 |
| Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs | Roseanna Cunningham MSP | 2011–2014 |
| Minister for Environment and Climate Change | Stewart Stevenson MSP | 2011–2012 |
| Minister for Environment and Climate Change | Paul Wheelhouse MSP | 2012–2014 |
| Minister for Housing and Transport | Keith Brown MSP | 2011–2012 |
| Minister for Transport and Veterans | Keith Brown MSP | 2012–2014 |

## Scottish law officers

Law officers :
| Post | Name | Term |
| Lord Advocate | The Right Hon. Frank Mulholland QC | 2011–2014 |
| Solicitor General for Scotland | Lesley Thomson QC | 2011–2014 |