How John Swinney is following the example of Alex Salmond with his new slimmed-down Cabinet
After winning his own mandate, First Minister opts for ‘leaner, more agile’ top team’
With big job cuts expected as part of the Scottish Government's drive to reform the public sector, John Swinney decided to set an example by slimming down his Cabinet.
Instead of the previous 11 Cabinet Secretaries, there will be eight members of his new "leaner, more agile" top team unveiled last week.
It echoes the approach taken by Alex Salmond when the SNP first came to power in 2007 and he assembled a Cabinet of just five plus himself.
Although they have new roles, the names in Mr Swinney’s new “focused” team are mostly the same as before, except for former Westminster leader Stephen Flynn being brought straight into the Cabinet - though not as Energy Secretary, as many had predicted. Instead he will be in charge of the economy, tourism and transport, while energy is part of a junior ministerial portfolio, combined with Europe and external affairs.
And Mr Swinney promoted former Public Finance Minister Ivan McKee into the Cabinet with the job of overseeing that public sector reform.
There was some surprise at the appointment of former Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth as Deputy First Minister, which she will combine with the role of Finance Secretary. The speculation had been that the number two post would go to former Housing Secretary Mairi McAllan, who now takes over the education portfolio, along with culture and Gaelic.
However, both women are seen as rising stars and potential successors to Mr Swinney, if they can fight off Stephen Flynn.
In addition to the eight Cabinet Secretaries, Mr Swinney appointed 12 Ministers and showed his desire to encourage new talent by giving posts to some of the new intake, including new Edinburgh South Western MSP Simita Kumar who is now Minister for Equalities and International Development.
Having taken over as First Minister at a difficult time and opted to keep most ministers in post for the sake of stability, Mr Swinney is pleased now to have won his own mandate and been able to appoint his new Cabinet.
But having done so, he would be well advised to follow another example of Alex Salmond and resist the temptation to reshuffle the pack too often. Stable government works better when ministers are allowed to develop a deeper knowledge and fuller expertise in their remit.