   the first minister of scotland (; ) is the political leader of scotland and head of the scottish government. the first minister chairs the scottish cabinet and is primarily responsible for the formulation, development and presentation of scottish government policy. additional functions of the first minister include promoting and representing scotland, in an official capacity, at home and abroad and responsibility for constitutional affairs, as they relate to devolution and the scottish government. the first minister is a member of the scottish parliament (msp) and nominated by the scottish parliament before being officially appointed by the monarch. members of the cabinet and junior ministers of the scottish government as well as the scottish law officers, are appointed by the first minister. as head of the scottish government, the first minister is directly accountable to the scottish parliament for their actions and the actions of the wider government. nicola sturgeon of the scottish national party (snp) is the current first minister of scotland. == history == following a referendum in 1997, in which the scottish electorate gave their consent, a scottish parliament and devolved scottish government were established by the labour government of tony blair. the process was known as devolution and was initiat
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