JOHN Swinney has confirmed the SNP’s full new Cabinet team.
The First Minister called former and future ministers to Bute House on Wednesday afternoon to learn the roles they would be asked to play in the new SNP government.
The exit from parliament of former heavy-hitters such as Kate Forbes, Shona Robison, and Fiona Hyslop had left key roles including deputy first minister, finance secretary, and transport secretary empty.
However, other SNP figures – including former MPs Stephen Flynn, Stephen Gethins, and Alison Thewliss – were elected to Holyrood for the first time, giving Swinney a wider field to choose from.
Read on for the full list of SNP Cabinet Secretaries for the new Scottish Government.
All the new Scottish Government Cabinet Secretaries:
- Jenny Gilruth, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government
- Ivan McKee, Cabinet Secretary for Public Service Reform
- Neil Gray, Cabinet Secretary for Justice
- Angela Constance, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Care
- Gillian Martin, Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Rural Affairs
- Màiri McAllan, Cabinet Secretary for Education, Culture and Gaelic
- Shirley-Anne Somerville, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice and Housing
- Stephen Flynn, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Tourism and Transport
The team is a "streamlined" Cabinet, the Scottish Government said, with the number of members cut to eight. Previously, Swinney's Cabinet consisted of 11 ministers.
The only new addition to the government is Stephen Flynn, who resigned his Westminster seat after being elected to Holyrood. Ivan McKee, however, is new to Cabinet, having previously been a junior minister.
Former Cabinet secretaries Mairi Gougeon, Fiona Hyslop, Kate Forbes, and Shona Robison all stood down at the 2026 elections, while former culture secretary Angus Robertson failed to be elected after losing his seat to the Greens.
Robertson had overseen independence and the constitution as part of his brief, but those areas will now be directly led by the First Minister.
Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said in response to the Cabinet line-up: "The same failed ministers are simply being shuffled around the table with one joker being added to the deck."
Cabinet Secretaries are supported in their roles by junior ministers.
Here is the full list of Scottish Government junior ministers:
- Minister for Europe, External Affairs & Energy, Stephen Gethins
- Minister for Parliamentary Business & Veterans, Jamie Hepburn
- Minister for Public Finance, Hannah Mary Goodlad (reporting jointly to the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service Reform)
- Minister for Public Finance, Hannah Mary Goodlad (reporting jointly to the Deputy First
- Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government)
- Minister for Victims & Community Safety, Kirsten Oswald
- Minister for Community Care, Alison Thewliss
- Minister for Mental Wellbeing, Public Health, Sport, Alcohol & Drugs, Maree Todd
- Minister for Agriculture, Marine & the Islands, Jim Fairlie
- Minister for Children, Young People, & The Promise, Siobhian Brown
- Minister for Innovation, Technology & Tertiary Education, Ben Macpherson
- Minister for Equalities & International Development, Simita Kumar
- Minister for Business & Fair Work, Tom Arthur
