Who is in Yousaf’s first Scottish Cabinet?

Those who sit around the top table will be charged with making some of the most important decisions in the country, and will be expected to wrangle with the biggest problems facing Scotland.

With some of Mr Yousaf’s choices making their first foray into the Scottish Government’s top table, here we take a closer look at Scotland’s new Cabinet ministers.

– Shona Robison: Deputy First Minister and Finance Secretary

The first appointment of the Yousaf administration, Ms Robison was given the post of Deputy First Minister and Finance Secretary.

She has been an MSP since the Scottish Parliament was established in 1999 and joined the Scottish Government when the SNP first came to power in 2007.

Ms Robison was promoted to the cabinet in 2014 by Alex Salmond, and became health secretary later that year after her friend and ally Nicola Sturgeon became first minister. However, Ms Robison quit the job in 2018 after facing a barrage of criticism over NHS waiting times and financial issues at NHS Tayside.

She rejoined the cabinet in 2021, and in her most recent role as social justice secretary she oversaw controversial reforms to the gender recognition process, which were passed by Holyrood in December but have been blocked by the Westminster Government.

– Neil Gray: Wellbeing Economy Secretary

Mr Gray was Mr Yousaf’s campaign manager in his SNP leadership election victory over Kate Forbes and Ash Regan.

Representing Airdrie and Shotts, he stood down from the same seat at Westminster to contest the 2021 Holyrood election, and was appointed a junior minister, as well as given responsibility for Ukrainian refugees settling in Scotland.

The father-of-four was born and brought up on Orkney and previously worked as a journalist.

– Angus Robertson: Constitution Secretary

A senior figure in the SNP for more than two decades, Mr Robertson was previously the party’s leader at Westminster before losing his Moray seat to Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross in 2019.

Elected to Holyrood in 2021, Mr Robertson was immediately given the job of Constitution, Culture and External Affairs Secretary – a role to which he was reappointed by Mr Yousaf.

Mr Robertson was tipped as a potential first minister himself, but turned down the chance to run due to having a two young children.

– Angela Constance: Justice Secretary

The former drugs policy minister was elected in 2007 and has found herself in Government in a variety of roles for the majority of that time.

Her new role as Justice and Home Affairs Secretary is the eighth post she has held, including two stints in cabinet as education secretary, and training, youth and women’s employment secretary.

Born in Blackburn, West Lothian – near her current Almond Valley seat – Ms Constance worked as a social worker before entering politics.

– Michael Matheson: Health Secretary

Probably the Cabinet minister with the toughest task ahead of him, Mr Matheson will replace Mr Yousaf as Health Secretary, moving from the net-zero portfolio he held in the previous administration.

But he enters the portfolio with some experience, having spent three years as public health minister between 2011 and 2014, followed by a succession of cabinet posts.

Glasgow-born Mr Matheson has three children and was elected in the first wave of MSPs in 1999.

– Mairi McAllan: Net-Zero Secretary

Aged just 30, Mairi McAllan becomes the second youngest Cabinet Secretary in the Scottish Government’s history – after former finance secretary and SNP leadership contender Kate Forbes.

The Clydesdale constituency MSP is seen as a rising star in the SNP and went straight into a Government role as environment minister after being elected in 2021. Prior to this, she was a special adviser to Ms Sturgeon on the environment.

She has now been promoted to Cabinet as Net-Zero Secretary.

The former lawyer was a strong supporter of Mr Yousaf in the leadership election, appearing with him as he visited Lanark on the campaign trail.

– Mairi Gougeon: Rural Affairs Secretary

Mairi Gougeon remains in place as Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and the Islands.

The 37-year-old has represented Angus North and Mearns since 2016, an area she previously represented as a councillor.

She entered the Scottish Government in 2018, and in 2020 she took over as minister for public health and sport, following Joe FitzPatrick’s resignation due to rising drug deaths.

Farmers’ groups have urged her to provide clarity on support for the agricultural sector in the upcoming Agriculture Bill.

– Jenny Gilruth: Education Secretary

Jenny Gilruth was elected to Holyrood in 2016 and joined the Government in 2020.

In 2017, it emerged she was in a relationship with Kezia Dugdale, who at that point was the Scottish Labour leader. They married in a private ceremony in Fife in June 2022.

A former modern studies teacher, she now takes on the education portfolio.

– Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Justice Secretary

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville is influential in the SNP and was deputy whip for the party’s Holyrood group.

She has previously worked as a parliamentary researcher, as well as at the Royal College of Nursing and at the Chartered Institute of Housing.

Ms Somerville was also the director of communities for the pro-independence campaign group Yes Scotland.

As education secretary under Ms Sturgeon, Ms Somerville she faced pressure from teaching unions during the long-running industrial dispute.