Dewar government

Donald Dewar formed the Dewar government on 17 May 1999 following his appointment as the inaugural First Minister of Scotland. The first devolved executive of Scotland, it consisted of Scottish Labour and the Scottish Liberal Democrats, who formed a coalition on 14 May 1999.^[1] The government dissolved and was succeeded by the McLeish government in the aftermath of Dewar's death on 11 October 2000.^[2][3][4][5]

Dewar government
1st government of Scotland
1999–2000
Date formed	17 May 1999
Date dissolved	11 October 2000
People and organisations
Monarch	Elizabeth II
First Minister	Donald Dewar
First Minister's history	1999–2000
Deputy First Minister	Jim Wallace
Member parties	Labour Party   Liberal Democrats
Status in legislature	Majority (coalition) 72 / 129 (56%)
Opposition party	Scottish National Party
Opposition leader	Alex Salmond (1999-2000) John Swinney (2000)
History
Election	1999 general election
Legislature term	1st Scottish Parliament
Successor	McLeish government

Cabinet

May 1999 to October 2000

Cabinet of Donald Dewar^[6]

Portfolio	Portrait	Minister	Term	Party
Cabinet ministers
First Minister		The Rt Hon Donald Dewar MSP	1999–2000		Labour
Deputy First Minister		Jim Wallace QC MSP	1999–2005		Lib Dem
Minister for Justice			1999–2003
Minister for Finance		Jack McConnell MSP	1999–2000		Labour
Minister for Health and Community Care		Susan Deacon MSP	1999–2000		Labour
Minister for Communities		Wendy Alexander MSP	1999–2000		Labour
Minister for Transport and the Environment		Sarah Boyack MSP	1999–2000		Labour
Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning		Henry McLeish MSP	1999–2000		Labour
Minister for Rural Affairs		Ross Finnie MSP	1999–2000		Lib Dem
Minister for Children and Education		Sam Galbraith MSP	1999–2000		Labour
Also attending cabinet meetings
Permanent Secretary		Muir Russell	1999–2003		Independent
Chief Whip and Government Business Manager		Tom McCabe MSP	1999–2000		Labour
Lord Advocate		The Rt Hon Colin Boyd QC	2000–2006		Labour

Changes

• Lord Hardie unexpectedly resigned from his post as Lord Advocate on 17 February 2000. The post was filled by the then Solicitor General, Colin Boyd, who was in turn replaced by Neil Davidson.^[7]

Junior ministers

Junior ministers[8]
Post	Minister		Term	Party
Deputy Minister for Children and Education		Peter Peacock MSP	1999–2000	Labour Party
Deputy Minister for Culture and Sport		Rhona Brankin MSP	1999–2000
Deputy Minister for Social Inclusion, Equality and the Voluntary Sector		Jackie Baillie MSP	1999–2000
Deputy Minister for Local Government		Frank McAveety MSP	1999–2000
Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning		Nicol Stephen MSP	1999–2000	Liberal Democrats
Deputy Minister for Highlands and Islands and Gaelic		Alasdair Morrison MSP	1999–2000	Labour Party
Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care		Iain Gray MSP	1999–2000
Deputy Minister for Justice (with particular responsibility for Land Reform)		Angus MacKay MSP	1999–2000
Deputy Business Manager and Liberal Democrat Whip		Iain Smith MSP	1999–2000	Liberal Democrats
Deputy Minister for Rural Affairs (with particular responsibility for Fisheries)		John Home Robertson MSP	1999–2000	Labour Party
Solicitor General for Scotland		Colin Boyd QC	May 1999–Feb. 2000
		Neil Davidson QC	Feb. 2000–Oct. 2000

References

1. "Scottish coalition deal unveiled". BBC News. 14 May 1999. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
2. "'Father of nation' dies". BBC News. 11 October 2000. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
3. "Scottish coalition deal in full". BBC News. 14 May 1999. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
4. "'Second 11' revealed by Dewar". BBC News. 18 May 1999. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
5. "Dewar mixes old and new faces". BBC News. 18 May 1999. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
6. "Scottish Ministers". 11 November 1999. Archived from the original on 11 November 1999. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
7. "Swift response over Hardie resignation". BBC News. 17 February 2000. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
8. "Ministers, Law Officers and Ministerial Parliamentary Aides by Cabinet: Session 1" (PDF). Scottish Parliament. 30 March 2007. Retrieved 7 January 2017.