- Latest available (Revised)
- Original (As enacted)
Scotland Act 1998
You are here:
- 1998 c. 46
- Part II
- Ministers and their staff
- Section 46
What Version
Advanced Features
- Show Geographical Extent(e.g. England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland)
- Show Timeline of Changes
Opening Options
Changes to legislation:
There are outstanding changes not yet made by the legislation.gov.uk editorial team to Scotland Act 1998. Any changes that have already been made by the team appear in the content and are referenced with annotations.
Changes to Legislation
Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date. Changes and effects are recorded by our editorial team in lists which can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area. Where those effects have yet to be applied to the text of the legislation by the editorial team they are also listed alongside the legislation in the affected provisions. Use the ‘more’ link to open the changes and effects relevant to the provision you are viewing.
Changes and effects yet to be applied to the whole Act, associated Parts and Chapters:
Changes and effects
This section lists the changes and effects yet to be applied to the whole Act, associated Parts and Chapters where applicable. This includes any insertions of whole new Parts, Chapters or provisions yet to be inserted into this Act. These effects are included in this view as they may be (but won’t necessarily be) relevant to the specific provision that you are viewing.
- Act modified by S.I. 2012/700 art. 3(1)
- Act words substituted by 2012 c. 11 s. 12(2)(a)
- Blanket amendment words substituted by S.I. 2011/1043 art. 3 4
- Blanket amendment words substituted by S.I. 2011/1043 art. 3 6
Whole provisions yet to be inserted into this Act (including any effects on those provisions):
- Pt. 4A inserted by 2012 c. 11 s. 23(2)
- Pt. 4A Ch. 2 inserted by 2012 c. 11 s. 25(3)
- Pt. 4A Ch. 3 inserted by 2012 c. 11 s. 28
- Pt. 4A Ch. 4 inserted by 2012 c. 11 s. 30(1)
- s. 12A inserted by 2012 c. 11 s. 1(9)
- s. 67A inserted by 2012 c. 11 s. 32(10)
- s. 90A and cross-heading inserted by 2012 c. 11 s. 16
- Sch. 1 para. 12 rule 1(2) omitted by 2012 c. 11 Sch. 1 para. 10(3)
- Sch. 1 para. 12 rule 2(8) words omitted by 2012 c. 11 Sch. 1 para. 6(3)
- Sch. 1 para. 12 rule 1(1) words substituted by 2012 c. 11 Sch. 1 para. 10(2)
46 Choice of the First Minister.E+W+S+N.I.
(1)If one of the following events occurs, the Parliament shall within the period allowed nominate one of its members for appointment as First Minister.
(2)The events are—
(a)the holding of a poll at a general election,
(b)the First Minister tendering his resignation to Her Majesty,
(c)the office of First Minister becoming vacant (otherwise than in consequence of his so tendering his resignation),
(d)the First Minister ceasing to be a member of the Parliament otherwise than by virtue of a dissolution.
(3)The period allowed is the period of 28 days which begins with the day on which the event in question occurs; but—
(a)if another of those events occurs within the period allowed, that period shall be extended (subject to paragraph (b)) so that it ends with the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which that other event occurred, and
(b)the period shall end if the Parliament passes a resolution under section 3(1)(a) or when Her Majesty appoints a person as First Minister.
(4)The Presiding Officer shall recommend to Her Majesty the appointment of any member of the Parliament who is nominated by the Parliament under this section.
Options/Help
Print Options
Print The Whole Act
Print The Whole Part
Print The Whole Cross Heading
Print This Section only
You have chosen to open The Whole Act
The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.
Would you like to continue?
You have chosen to open The Whole Act as a PDF
The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download.
Would you like to continue?
You have chosen to open the Whole Act
The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.
Would you like to continue?
Legislation is available in different versions:
Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.
Original (As Enacted or Made):The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.
See additional information alongside the content
Geographical Extent: Indicates the geographical area that this provision applies to. For further information see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.
Show Timeline of Changes: See how this legislation has or could change over time. Turning this feature on will show extra navigation options to go to these specific points in time. Return to the latest available version by using the controls above in the What Version box.
Opening Options
Different options to open legislation in order to view more content on screen at once
More Resources
Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
- the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
- lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
- confers power and blanket amendment details
- all formats of all associated documents
- correction slips
- links to related legislation and further information resources
Timeline of Changes
This timeline shows the different points in time where a change occurred. The dates will coincide with the earliest date on which the change (e.g an insertion, a repeal or a substitution) that was applied came into force. The first date in the timeline will usually be the earliest date when the provision came into force. In some cases the first date is 01/02/1991 (or for Northern Ireland legislation 01/01/2006). This date is our basedate. No versions before this date are available. For further information see the Editorial Practice Guide and Glossary under Help.