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 of Scotland by the Scottish Parliament from among its members at the beginning of each term, by means of an exhaustive ballot. He or she is then formally appointed by the monarch. In theory, any member of the Scottish Parliament can be nominated for First Minister. However, the government must maintain the confidence of the Scottish Parliament to in order to gain supply (access to exchequer funds). For this reason, the First Minister is almost always the leader of the largest party, or the leader of the senior partner in any majority coalition. There is no term of office for a First