Fortnight POLITICAL SPOTLIGHT House of cards


The clues were there to see, but this reshuffle was still full of surprises By Liam Kirkaldy


Te media had been camped outside Bute House since mid-morning, running through the


various rituals that make up the reshuffle pantomime. Te routine quickly became familiar. An SNP politician would arrive and the press would spring into action, desperately shouting questions and thrusting forward cameras in the hope something would be let slip. Te circus rarely, if ever, reveals who will be moving where, with the media forced to satisfy themselves with a regular “we’ll just have to wait and see” from each arrival, and wait until lunchtime to find out who would do what within Nicola Sturgeon’s new cabinet. Te process may have been slow, or indeed pointless, but at least there was reward in the end. Te reshuffle was actually far more interesting than many had expected. In fact, despite the fruitless attempts to glean information from those arriving at Bute House,


there were some clues as to what would happen, and where Sturgeon would focus her efforts, before the lunchtime announcement. By first thing in the morning, news had begun to trickle out of those who would be step- ping down. First, Richard Lochhead announced he would stand down as Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Environment. Pressure had been building on Lochhead for some time, with both the Tories and Lib Dems calling for him to be moved on because of the sense of failure surrounding delayed CAP pay- ments to farmers. An Audit Scotland report into the fiasco was due the next day, with the watchdog warning that the manner in which the Scottish Government had handled problems with the farm payments’ IT system were “a serious concern”. One of the two longest standing cabinet secretaries – along with John Swinney – Lochhead said the decision was driven by family matters, with his wife having disclosed she had breast cancer last year. He said: “After much thought in recent months, I have taken the decision that after nine


incredible but hectic years as a cabinet secretary, the time has come to change the priorities in my life, especially in light of recent family circumstances.” Alex Neil made a similar announcement later that morning. In his resignation letter, Neil said: “I believe we have laid the basis for an ambitious programme of reform for the next five years, especially in relation to housing, planning and social security policy. “However, I now intend to concentrate on my constituency and other work which cannot be easily done whilst serving in the cabinet.” Both moves followed discussions with Sturgeon, though whether Neil and Lochhead jumped


or were pushed remained unclear. In total, just three of the ten cabinet secretaries kept their positions – Shona Robison in health, Michael Matheson in justice and Fiona Hyslop in culture and external affairs, though her portfolio was expanded to include tourism. With five women and five men, the FM retained the 50-50 gender split she established in 2014. Some had tipped Angela Constance, the education secretary, as a possible victim of Sturgeon’s plans. In the end, she stayed on as cabinet secretary, but in a new post – communities, social security and equalities – where she will be responsible for the implementation of new welfare powers being devolved to Scotland. Other briefs were merged and altered. Lochhead’s old one, rural affairs, food and environ-


ment, was turned into two, with Fergus Ewing promoted to take over rural economy and connectivity, and environment, climate change and land reform – previously a ministerial portfolio – upgraded to cabinet secretary status, and filled by Roseanna Cunningham.


10 www.holyrood.com 23 May 2016


Clearly Sturgeon’s team had used the reshuf- fle as a means of highlighting priorities, and environmental groups were pleased with the increased emphasis she seemed to have placed on climate change. As WWF Scotland director Lang Banks put it:


“It’s really great to see the importance of climate change recognised with a dedicated cabinet sec- retary for the first time”. He said: “We hope this translates into the intro- duction of firm new policies that put Scotland on course to realise the many benefits of becom- ing a zero-carbon economy, and look forward to working with the new cabinet secretary Roseanna Cunningham in this crucial role.” But amid the tweaks, headlines focused on John


Swinney, with the Deputy First Minister moving from cabinet secretary for finance, constitution and economy – where he spent the last nine years – to education, and Nicola Sturgeon splitting his old brief into two cabinet secretary positions, one for the economy, jobs and fair work and the other for finance and the constitution. It was hard to know what to make of it all.


With new financial powers on their way to the Scottish Parliament with the next stage of devolution, Swinney’s old brief will become increasingly powerful, and Sturgeon’s decision to give the portfolio to Derek Mackay shows how highly the former minister for transport and islands – someone she has tipped as a future leader – is esteemed. Few expected Swinney to move at such a criti-


cal time. But, in retrospect, the decision to put Swinney in charge of education was perhaps predictable, given Sturgeon has repeatedly emphasised how central the brief, and particu- larly the need to close the attainment gap, is to her mission as FM. Announcing the decision to put her most experienced ally into education, Sturgeon was keen to frame the move as a state- ment of intent. She said: “Te central focus of the Scottish


Government I lead will be ensuring that our education system is world class and that every child in Scotland is given the opportunity to fulfil their potential, no matter their background.”


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