Scottish Government reshuffle: The new faces

The new Minister for External Affairs and International Development, Humza Yousaf, is widely viewed as one of the brightest of the SNP’s intake from the party’s 2011 landslide election victory.

Mr Yousaf’s elevation to the ministerial ranks means that the 27-year-old becomes the first Muslim minister since the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999. But what has marked Mr Yousaf out since his election as an MSP last year is his status as one of Alex Salmond’s favoured sons and his high profile in the media.

He previously worked in Mr Salmond’s constituency office in Peterhead. He also worked for the first Muslim MSP, the late Bashir Ahmad, as well as formerSNP MSP Anne McLaughlin. He was also a communications officer at the SNP headquarters in Edinburgh ahead of his election as an MSP.

JOE FITZPATRICK

He HAS been handed the role of Minister for Parliamentary Business at a time when the party is experiencing internal dissent about the leadership’s controversial plans to ditch its opposition to Nato membership.

Mr FitzPatrick has marked himself out as one of the most loyal SNP back-benchers during his five years at Holyrood and has regularly appeared to be one of the party’s big hitters against Labour opposition in parliamentary debates. The Dundee City West’s MSP’s promotion comes after a year of services as convener of the Scottish Parliament’s local government committee. Openly gay, he is a high-profile supporter of the government’s plans to legalise same-sex marriage.

Mr FitzPatrick has served as secretary of the SNP group, a factor likely to have influenced the decision to appoint him minister in charge of discipline and party management.

PAUL WHEELHOUSE

Another figure from the SNP’s 2011 fresh intake of MSPs to make it into the ministerial ranks after impressing the party leadership during his early days at Holyrood.

The new Minister for Environment and Climate Change joined the SNP in 2003. He unsuccessfully stood as a candidate for the Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk constituency at the 2010 general election. He is an economist by profession and has acted as an adviser to firms on public services, particularly in further and higher education.

Born in Belfast in 1970, he was raised in Edinburgh, attending Stewart’s Melville College. He gained an honours degree in economics from the University of Aberdeen and an MBA from the University of Edinburgh.

Before his appointment as a minister, Mr Wheelhouse was a member of the Scottish Parliament’s finance committee.

MARGARET BURGESS

The only female member of the SNP’s 2011 intake to be handed a ministerial post in Alex Salmond’s latest reshuffle.

Since arriving at Holyrood, she has gained a reputation for her interventions on debates about the National Health Service and welfare services.

The Cunninghame South MSP has been an SNP member for more than 40 years and was an active party member in the constituency she now represents at Holyrood. Before her appointment as a minister, Ms Burgess was a member of Holyrood’s committee on standards, procedures and public appointments, as well as being part of the parliament’s welfare reform committee.

She worked as the manager of the East Ayrshire Citizens Advice Bureau for 14 years before her election to the Scottish Parliament last year. She is also a member of the Unite trade union.