First Minister of Scotland elect its members, it is difficult for a single party to gain an overall majority of seats in the Scottish Parliament. The SNP gained an overall majority of seats in the 2011 election, and thus had enough numbers to vote in its leader, Alex Salmond, as First Minister for a second term. After the election of the Scottish Parliament, a First Minister must be nominated within a period of 28 days. Under the terms of the Scotland Act, if the Parliament fails to nominate a First Minister, within this time frame, it will be dissolved and a fresh election held.
Scotland Act 2012 Scotland Act 2012 The Scotland Act 2012 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It sets out amendments to the Scotland Act 1998, with the aim of devolving further powers to Scotland in accordance with the recommendations of the Calman Commission. It received Royal Assent in 2012. The Act gave extra powers to the Scottish Parliament, most notably: The proposed legislation was based on the final report of the Calman Commission, which was established by an opposition Labour Party motion in the Scottish Parliament in December 2007, against the wishes of the Scottish National Party minority government.