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.
David Arnott (minister) David Arnott (minister) Andrew David Keltie Arnott – the Reverend David Arnott MA BD – is a retired minister of the Church of Scotland who was the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland for 2011-2012. David Arnott was born in Dunfermline, Fife. He went to George Watson's College in Edinburgh. He is a graduate of the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh. David Arnott was ordained in 1971. His first charge was Stobhill Parish Church in Gorebridge, Midlothian. He soon oversaw the union of all three congregations in the town into a single