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.
First minister Empire!" Nowadays, the term is used to describe the leaders of the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. See In Germany, the first minister in the federal states is known as the Ministerpräsident. In Malaysia, the first minister for each state with a Malay ruler is known as the Menteri Besar. George Price held the office of First Minister of British Honduras from 1961 until 1964, when it became self-governing and the title was changed to Premier. He continued as Premier after the colony changed its names to Belize, and then as Prime Minister after Belize gained full