The Minister for Parliamentary Business () is a junior ministerial post in the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

. The minister supports the First Minister and attends cabinet. The minister has the job of steering government business through the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

. The current minister is

Jamie Hepburn James Douglas Hepburn (born 21 May 1979) is a Scottish politician who has served as the Minister for Parliamentary Business since May 2024. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he has been Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for ...

, who was appointed in May 2024.

History

The post was originally created in May 1999 as Chief Whip and Government Business Manager as a cabinet position in the Labour Liberal

Scottish Executive The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in t ...

along with the junior Deputy Business Manager, both positions were renamed after a few weeks to the Minister for Parliament and Deputy Minister for Parliament respectively. The posts were renamed again in November 2001 to Minister for Parliamentary Business and Deputy Minister for Parliamentary Business following the election of

Jack McConnell Jack Wilson McConnell, Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale, (born 30 June 1960) is a Scottish politician who served as first minister of Scotland and leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 2001 to 2007. McConnell served as the Minister f ...

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of ' ...

. The cabinet post was downgraded to that of a junior minister reporting to the First Minister following the election of an SNP minority government in May

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. The post remained a junior one until the May 2011 Scottish Parliament election after which a new cabinet post of Cabinet Secretary for Parliamentary Business and Government Strategy was established with the Minister for Parliamentary Business and Chief Whip reporting to it. This set up remained in place until a government reshuffle in September 2012 saw the cabinet post abolished with responsibility of Government Strategy being given to the Deputy First Minister, and the post of Minister for Parliamentary Business being re-established reporting to both First Minister and Deputy First Minister. This changed in the reshuffle announced on 21 November 2014, with

Joe FitzPatrick Joseph Martin FitzPatrick (born 1 April 1967) is a Scottish politician who most recently served as Minister for Local Government Empowerment and Planning from March 2023 to May 2024. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he has been ...

reporting directly to

Deputy First Minister of Scotland The deputy first minister of Scotland is the second highest minister in the executive branch of the Scottish Government, after the First Minister of Scotland, first minister of Scotland. The post-holder deputises for the first minister during ...

John Swinney John Ramsay Swinney (born 13 April 1964) is a Scottish politician who has served as First Minister of Scotland, first minister of Scotland since 2024. Swinney has served as Leader of the Scottish National Party, leader of the Scottish National ...

. In the June 2018 reshuffle cabinet level responsibility for parliamentary business was assigned to the

Cabinet Secretary for Government Business and Constitutional Relations The Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture (), commonly referred to as the Constitution Secretary (), is a cabinet position in the Scottish Government. The incumbent Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External ...

, who is supported by the Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans. In May

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, following the

Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born 19 July 1970) is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2014 to 2023. She has served as a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) sin ...

's SNP victory,

George Adam George James Adam (born 8 June 1969) is a Scottish politician who served as the Minister for Parliamentary Business from 2021 to 2024. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for P ...

was promoted to Minister for Parliamentary Business, with the post losing responsibility of veteran affairs.

List of office holders

Cabinet position

Junior Minister

References

External links