Scotland appoints new Justice Secretary in cabinet reshuffle
Humza Yousaf has been promoted as the new Justice Secretary following a reshuffle of the Scottish cabinet.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon appointed five new cabinet secretaries on Tuesday (June 26), with Michael Matheson – who had held the role of Justice Secretary since 2014 – taking Mr Yousaf’s old role of Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity Minister.
Ms Sturgeon said the new Cabinet Secretary for Justice will lead the delivery of new hate crime laws in Scotland.
The overall size of the cabinet has risen from ten to 12 to reflect the “increasing impact of Brexit” on constitutional relations, the Scottish government confirmed.
Health Secretary Shona Robinson left government as Ms Sturgeon began her reshuffle, along with Business Secretary Keith Brown and Communities Secretary Angela Constance.
In her resignation letter, Ms Robinson said the last year in her role had been “very challenging”, especially after losing both of her parents and having a health scare of her own.
Ms Sturgeon said Mr Brown was leaving to focus on his new role as deputy leader of the Scottish National Party, despite him telling the Sunday Post earlier this month that this would not affect his ability to serve in the cabinet.
Following the resignations, a decision was soon made to promote Jeane Freeman as the new Health and Sport Secretary, Aileen Campbell as the new Communities and Local Government Secretary and Michael Russell as Government Business and Constitutional Relations Secretary.
The new appointments will be presented to Parliament for approval on June 28.
