The motion is, therefore, I now put the question to the chamber. The question is that motion number 11581, in the name of Joe Fitzpatrick, be agreed to. Are we all agreed? The motion is, therefore, agreed to. The next item of business is decision time. There are no questions to be put as a result of today's business, so we will move swiftly on to the next item, which is the nominations for First Minister. I have received two valid nominations for selection of the Parliament's nominee as First Minister. I will now announce the nominations in alphabetical order. The nominations are Ruth Davidson, Nicola Sturgeon. I will ask each nominee to speak in support of their candidacy for up to five minutes. After the nominees have spoken, members will be asked to cast their votes for their preferred candidate. A separate vote will be called for each candidate, and members can only vote one. A note explaining the procedures to be followed this afternoon have been placed on every member's desk. Once all the voting has been completed, any member who has not yet voted will be invited to cast a vote to abstain. There will then be a short break of a few minutes while the result is verified. I will then announce the results of the voting. A candidate will be elected if a simple majority is obtained, therefore no account will be taken of any votes to abstain in establishing whether a simple majority has been achieved. We now move to the selection process. I call Ruth Davidson. I stand today as others have before me, Alex Salmond and Robin Harper, John Swinney and Dennis Canavan, and half a dozen others besides, knowing that I do not lead the largest party in this chamber and realistic about my prospects of becoming First Minister, at least for now. I stand for an important reason. There has been one issue that has dominated the political landscape for the entirety of this Parliament, and the Deputy First Minister, seeking to ascend one wrong, finds herself on the opposite side of the issue from the majority of people in this country. Today, I offer an alternative as someone who wants Scotland to prosper as part of our United Kingdom and not outside it. A member of this Parliament who wants this Parliament to work better, to use the powers that it has to improve public life in Scotland and to use the powers that are coming to limit the financial burden on families across our country. I want both of Scotland's Governments to work together for the betterment of all our people, not for false grievance to be held up in order to put one against the other. It is my stated aim to develop devolution, not to end it, and to use this devolved Parliament to serve the people and to empower them, to loosen the constraints of the state, to push power into communities and to increase freedom and choice. Parents are free to raise their children without a state-appointed guardian imposed on them. Tenants are free to buy their council house and pass that asset on to their children. Greater economic freedom, with more of the money earned staying in the pockets of those who earned it. Freedom for football fans to be subject to the same laws as everybody else. Freedom for parents to pick a school for their child and to have different types of school from which to choose. Freedom to break the council monopoly that says that there is only one way to teach and one way to learn. There is not, and Scotland can learn from countries where that freedom of choice has driven up standards for future generations. Reform of our public services, making them more effective and responsive to people's needs, is long overdue in Scotland. It is a debate that has been ducked for 15 years, but it is a conversation that we need to start having right now. Failing to do so hits those who rely on such services hardest, and it is a dereliction of our duty as parliamentarians. So freedom, yes, but there are responsibilities to and choices to be made. The way the single police force is being rolled out urgently needs reviewed. Simply stamping the rest of the country with the strathclyde mould and expecting it to fit is not working. Local communities need to feel that they have got their community police force back. The messy web of justice policy needs untangled. Asking members here to vote down corroboration without knowing its replacement was an act of either desperation of hubris and I can't work out which. We need to start from first principles. How do we better secure justice for our victims and fairness for the accused? We need a wholesale review of the law of evidence. Our NHS must stop having sticking plaster fixes. I have more cause than most in this chamber to thank our NHS. They saved not only my life but my legs. I have always been happy to pay a contribution to my prescriptions and the vast majority of people who were asked to do so were too. Extending free prescriptions to those who could afford to pay takes £60 million out of the NHS budget each year. Free stuff is nice. Free stuff is easy, but I think that £60 million is better spent funding 1,000 extra nurses and midwives for our hospitals. I stand here today knowing that I will likely lose, but I stand to offer a different vision of Scotland. A Scotland where we value our vocational education as highly as our academic one, where we don't decimate our college places for the shibboleth of no university contribution. A Scotland that recognises that children learn differently and should have the opportunity to be taught differently with choice driving up standards. A Scotland where local police, local services, local colleges answer to the communities that they serve, not a central government hell bent on pulling all power to Holyrood. A Scotland that acknowledges that there is no such thing as Government money, only the money that governments take from the working men and women of this country and we resolve to ensure that they keep more of it. A Scotland where government is there to help and not to hector. Presiding Officer, I stand to offer that vision of Scotland and I promise whether elected to the office of First Minister or more likely not that I will work with anyone who will help achieve it. I will keep my opening remarks relatively brief. Let me begin firstly by thanking Ruth Davidson for her candidacy today. I suspect that I am correcting saying that there is not much that Ruth Davidson and I agree on. However, I think that we probably will agree today that having two women can test the post of First Minister is a great advert for our modern country. Only a matter of weeks ago, Presiding Officer, I would not have imagined that I would be seeking nomination today as the First Minister of Scotland. To be doing so is a great honour and it is also an immense responsibility. The boots that I seek to fill are big ones but I will do my best to wear them in my own way and in seeking to become not just the First Minister but the first woman First Minister of our country. I am very aware of the additional responsibility that I will carry if elected—the responsibility to help every woman and girl in our country to fulfil their own potential. I think that it is fair to say that recent political events have surprised all of us in the run-up to the referendum and, indeed, since democracy in Scotland has flourished as never before. We hear all too often that people have disconnected from politics yet the 85 per cent turnout that we saw in September shows that here in Scotland the reverse is true. People are more engaged than ever in our political process. They have high expectations that we in this Parliament will meet their needs and their aspirations. Put bluntly their hopes are in our hands. It is our responsibility as a Parliament and as a Government to ensure that we meet them. That presents us with challenges but also with tremendous opportunities. There is no better service that we can give Scotland than to improve the prospects of her people. If Parliament elects me to be First Minister, I will work along with each and every member of this chamber to make Scotland a better, a fairer and a more socially just place for all. Though we may differ on the best way of achieving that goal between those of us who believe in independence and those of us who do not, I know that that is a commitment that all members will share and do their very best to uphold. We live in a new era of Scottish democracy. Those who we represent expect us to give our very best, and we, all of us, must ensure that we do not disappoint them. They expect to see us debate vigorously, but they do not want us to divide rankarously. Let us work together to create a future for Scotland that is worthy of their dreams and their trust. I ask the support of Parliament today for my candidacy as First Minister, for my candidacy to be First Minister of and for all of Scotland, a First Minister who will always have big ambitions for this country, and a First Minister who, day in and day out, will apply herself to the job of protecting our public services, supporting our businesses and tackling inequality. I am ready and willing to take on those responsibilities. There is a job to be done, a big job to be done. With Parliament's approval today, I look forward now to getting on and doing it. Thank you. We now move to voting. Members should ensure that their cards are inserted correctly in the consoles. This will help the process. May I remind members that they most vote only once, and they must use their yes button when voting. If any member records a vote more than once or records a vote other than a yes vote, their votes will be treated as spoiled. Once the vote for both candidates is completed, members who have not voted for a candidate will then be given an opportunity to vote to abstain by pressing their yes button. I will then announce the results once all the votes have been cast and verified. The first vote is for Ruth Davidson. Members who wish to cast their vote for Ruth Davidson should vote yes now. Voting time has ended. The next vote is for Nicoll Sturgeon. Members who wish to cast their votes for Nicoll Sturgeon should vote yes now. We now move to the abstention vote. The next vote is for any members who have not yet voted and who wish to record an abstention. Members wishing to abstain should press their yes button now. That concludes this round of voting. There will now be a break of approximately five minutes while we make sure that the votes are verified. Claudia, if you could just zoom your seats please. I could just explain to people what the delay was all about. What we have got to do is to individually verify each vote to make sure that nobody has voted twice. I am quite sure that, by the time we come to select a future First Minister, we will probably be able to do it a lot quicker. In the vote for the selection of the Parliament's nominee for First Minister, the number of votes cast for each candidate is as follows. The number of votes cast is 120. The number of votes cast for Ruth Davidson is 15. The number of votes cast for Nicoll Sturgeon is 66. The number of abstentions is 39. The number of spoiled votes is zero. As the result is valid and as Nicoll Sturgeon has received more votes than the total number of votes for the other candidate, I declare that Nicoll Sturgeon is selected as this Parliament's nominee for appointment as First Minister. Required by the Scotland Act 1998, I shall now recommend to Her Majesty that she appoint Nicoll Sturgeon as the First Minister. As the First Woman Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, let me congratulate Nicoll Sturgeon on being the first woman to be nominated to the position of First Minister of Scotland. First Minister, on behalf of the Parliament, may I offer you my sincere good wishes as you take on your new role, and I look forward to working with you in the future. Jackie Baillie I offer my congratulations to Nicoll Sturgeon on being elected as First Minister. In many ways, I consider this to be a double celebration as she is the first woman to be appointed to that office and also the first woman to lead the SNP. We, of course, both became members of the Scottish Parliament on the same day, and for a number of years we have had the same policy brief, so we have exchanged views on countless occasions across the chamber. Although it would not surprise you, Presiding Officer, to know that she and I did not always agree, I certainly respected her contribution. Some of those exchanges have been robust, I am sure that they will continue to be, and others are more consensual. I trust that you will accept my congratulations today in the spirit in which they are offered. The fact that we have three out of five party responses today being delivered by women is, I hope, a recognition of how far we have travelled in recent years and the differing nature of this Parliament from other places. Nicoll Sturgeon's place in Scottish political history is, of course, assured being the first woman to hold her post. While there is no doubting that that is a symbolic moment, what she does really matters far more. I sincerely hope that she will use her position to promote the role of women in public life by making positive steps towards gender balance. There is no reason why 5050 cannot become a reality in government, in this Parliament and across the public sector. That is something that she can already do, she has the power to do, and I am very happy to stand shoulder to shoulder with her if she chooses to do so. Next week, we will hear from the First Minister what her programme for government will contain and who she chooses to serve in her cabinet, and I will have more to say about that on another day. She tells us that the policies at the heart of her administration will be social justice and equality. I welcome that, but can I say to her genuinely that, if that is the case, will she consider replacing the 4,000 teaching posts that have been cut, will she reinstate the 140,000 college places that have been cut, and will she do something to increase the number of students from the poorest background taking up university places? I am sure that she will agree with me that education is the opportunity to secure a better future and deliver social justice. In the past few weeks, many, including myself, have commented on the failings of the SNP administration since it came to power in 2007, and particularly in the past three years, when it has had a majority in this chamber. However, I welcome the reports from her conference speech made on Saturday, and in particular her pledge to tackle poverty and inequality. I would, of course, gently remind the First Minister that the SNP has been responsible for many of those policies over the past seven years. Even though it was her Government that cut £1 billion from the anti-poverty budget, I am always willing to work with her in the cause of social justice. Whilst I welcome this new priority, I hope that the SNP would have addressed the problems facing the people of Scotland before now. If she brings forward those credible policies for dealing with those problems, she will get the support from people on Labour benches and, indeed, we stand ready to help with that task. People know that what counts is action not words. It is genuinely disappointing that it would appear that action is on hold until her party manifesto for the 2016 Holyrood elections. I genuinely hope that we can work together now to do something before that. That apparently includes the pledge to increase the number of hours of free childcare, something that we warmly welcome. Having been told during the referendum campaign that this could only be done if Scotland achieved independence, we now find that it can be done, but I hope that it can be done now and not at some later date. Again, we stand ready to help. There is one area where the new First Minister can provide us with some clarity, and that is with regard to the living wage. The First Minister announced to her party conference that cleaning staff employed by mighty, subcontracted to the Scottish Government, will be paid the living wage by the end of the year, and that is a very positive development. Although I welcome that, I think that we can do so much better than a piecemeal company by company approach. Three weeks ago, the SNP had the opportunity to ensure that every company, every company wishing to secure a public sector contract, was paying the living wage. They rejected that, despite the First Minister herself having signed a living wage pledge back in March. For the 400,000 people paid below the living wage, can I invite the SNP, can I invite the First Minister to support Labour's campaign that payment of the living wage should be the expectation, not the exception, when it comes to all public sector contracts? Although the SNP has been a long apprenticeship for Nicola Sturgeon, she tells us that she was party to all decisions whilst working with Alex Hammond. I will certainly watch with interest whether it is more of the same, whether she actually will strike a different tune, a different style and have different content. In conclusion, can I again genuinely, genuinely congratulate her on her appointment and very much look forward to First Minister's questions tomorrow? Ruth Davidson Thank you, Presiding Officer. After a hard-foughts contest for the position of First Minister, in the end my opponent just shaded it and I promise I won't be demanding a recount. Today this Parliament has elected Nicola Sturgeon as the First Minister of Scotland and on behalf of myself and of my party may I offer her our warmest congratulations. When she knocks on her first door in her home constituency of Cunningham South during the 1987 general election, there was no Scottish Parliament, there was no devolved Government and there was no post of First Minister. She could have had no idea when she chapped that door that she was setting out on a path that would lead more than a quarter of a century later to that high office and two-bute house. Her completion of that journey is a great personal achievement and it's also an accomplishment to secure that office as Scotland's first woman First Minister. As women around the world seek equality and equity where there currently is none, I am personally delighted that they will look to Scotland and see another woman having fought her way on merit to the top, not just leading the Government but also, Presiding Officer, chairing the Parliament. Of course it was our party, the Conservatives, which led the way in giving this country its first female leader, Prime Minister, between the years of 1979 and 1990, and I know how Nicola Sturgeon has always seen that Prime Minister as a very personal role model who has inspired her onwards in everything that she has done. I look forward to seeing whether the First Minister is able to find within her the same iron resolve that marks out all true leaders, whether they are male or female. With a 10-year apprenticeship as Deputy and Seven as the Deputy First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon is eminently qualified and if I may offer a personal opinion in many ways a more skillful politician than her immediate predecessor. She has been deployed more than once as a velvet glove to a clunking fist. There are a number of positives to welcome today and welcome them I do, but it is not just a new First Minister that Scotland needs, it is a change of direction. Above all, after two years that have been consumed by the single issue of Scotland's constitutional future, it is time to get back to the practical day-to-day issues that concern Scottish families the most, such as jobs, opportunity, taxes and the efficient delivery of public services. They have been an accompaniment for most of this parliament and we must now move them back to where they belong, front and centre in all of our priorities. The Scottish Conservatives are clear about the reforms that we need to make Scotland better, greater choice and diversity in our education system to drive up standards, lowering the tax burden on ordinary Scots, policies to promote personal responsibility and to provide a ladder of aspiration for disadvantaged families. Those are the Scottish Conservatives' priorities and the new First Minister will have her own. So many things will inevitably divide us and these benches will hold to account her and her government for their actions and their policies. It is both healthy and necessary for Scotland's democracy that we do so, but we want to pose for the sake of opposition. We will make common cause with the new First Minister where agreement can be found and we will do it to make Scotland better. It is my belief that both our governments in this country, in Holyrood and in Westminster, are working to better this nation and people at home demand no less. We have been through a period in our history where perhaps understandably the divisions between the two sides in the referendum debate have been inflamed and sometimes even distorted. Too often it has not just been policies and views that have been questioned but motives and character too. I hope that the election of a new First Minister of Scotland will act as a break to that dismal political dead end and I hope that the politics of division will pass and the politics of debate and discourse of pragmatism and respect will win out. We can still disagree and knowing the new First Minister we both know that, to coin a frame, the rocks will melt in the sun before that stops, but I hope that we can do so with mutual respect and a mutual acknowledgement that we are all Conservative, Liberal, Labour and SNP seeking to make Scotland a better place. It is in that spirit that I take this opportunity to congratulate Nicola Sturgeon on her appointment and I wish her well for the task that awaits. Will it rainie? Thank you, Presiding Officer. This is a wonderful day for equality as the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, has been elevated to a special select group of powerful women in the world. She joins the illustrious company of Prime Minister Ernest Alberg and Hela Thornig-Smet of Norway and Denmark, countries that she draws inspiration for. However, I would discourage her from consulting Tatiana Turanskaya. She is the Prime Minister of the self-declared independent republic of Transnistria. However, she may wish to look for advice from Eveta Radavikova of Slovakia, who has been credited with restoring relationships with a large neighbour after her predecessor put it under her significant strain. She may be especially interested in what she has to say, as Radakova was subsequently deposed by her predecessor only two years later. At times, there may be a crossword exchanged in this chamber between her and myself, but let me begin with some praise. I hope that she is as proud today as her parents looked on Saturday. This is an outstanding personal achievement. However, today I want to set out what my party and I will do in response to a sturgeon Government. Where we disagree, we will say so. Sometimes we will say so robustly and that is our job. But where we agree, we will also say so. That is our job too. If the chamber will allow me to make two points of difference today, our new First Minister wants to represent all of Scotland. That is something that we commend. She does not just want to represent those who supported her in the referendum but the whole of the country. However, she must realise that when she uses her position to immediately return to campaigning for a win in another referendum, she is in danger of diminishing the democratic expression of over 2 million no-voters. I am not expecting her to change her views on Scotland's constitutional future. I would never deny her that right, but her Government has held over three and a half years to make the case for independence, so would it not be respectful to invest all her power and energy in the remaining 18 months to run in the country? She will also know that we strongly disagree with the Government's approach to justice on police centralisation, the abolition of corroboration, massive expansion of stop and search and officers carrying guns. I hope that she takes the opportunity in the pending reshuffle to find a new, more liberal justice secretary. Just like we will speak out when we disagree, I can tell her that we will not hunt for reasons to oppose when it is sensible to support. She will know that we have worked constructively with her Government on every single budget. When we secured more funds for our colleges, nursery education for thousands of two-year-olds, housing, free school meals and more, we voted for those budgets. I am searching for common ground on powers for this Parliament too. We advocated her party's inclusion in the Smith commission and we are looking forward to reaching an agreement that will make a big difference for Scotland. The responsibility that she now takes is great, but we also know that it will at times be a personal burden. We will scrutinise her, but we will always strive to judge her fairly. I am sure that I am not alone in this chamber today feeling a certain degree of envy, to be in her shoes for the opportunity that the office presents to change Scotland, to create a stronger economy and a fairer society so that everyone can get a chance to get on, but this is her moment and I do wish her well. Can I add my warm congratulations to Nicola Sturgeon on her selection by this Parliament? I am sure that when the moment comes, a comparison with the first woman Prime Minister will be beneath her majesty when she comes to approve that appointment on our behalf. I wish Nicola Sturgeon very well in the job that she is about to undertake. We had the opportunity of working together on a number of occasions during the referendum campaign and whether we agreed or disagreed on any particular point of policy or strategy, that experience confirmed what I already believed to be true, that Nicola Sturgeon is a highly capable, professional and very impressive figure on the political landscape of Scotland. Over the last few days, she has set out a strong social justice emphasis to her hopes and aspirations for her time in this office. There are many opportunities to give effect to that aspiration, from a fairer approach to local taxes in Scotland, which not only ensures that people like us who can afford to contribute more do so but also invest in the services that people depend on in Scotland and could even end early the real-terms pay cuts that are still taking place in the public sector. Over the next few months, we will find out whether this Parliament is going to have the ability to exercise additional powers, to pull different economic levers, to close the gap between rich and poor in our society and to improve the provision for people in it. I hope that we will see a resolute and creative approach to using all of the powers at the disposal of this Parliament, existing and new powers, to ensure that that objective is maintained. Let me set out two particular areas where I would hope to see a stronger line from the new Scottish Government than we have seen in the past. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is a long-boring name for a dramatic corporate power grab that is being negotiated between Europe and the US at present. I know that the Scottish Government does not have a formal role in that negotiation, but it has a voice. In the past, the Scottish Government has described that trade deal as good news for Scotland. It has highlighted the potential for economic benefits, but right now we are seeing that trade deal begin to fall apart, as the French Government has indicated. It will not support the investor state dispute settlement procedures in there. The potential for corporations to sue Governments by having the nerve to protect social and environmental standards. The French Secretary of State for Foreign Trade said that we have the right to preserve the right of the state to set and apply its own standards to allow the people of France and the world to assert their values. Scotland may not have a seat at the negotiating table, but I hope that Nicola Sturgeon will use the office of First Minister and the voice of the Scottish Government, because if we do so and we galvanise public opposition to this corporate power grab, then the killer blow can be dealt to it. On the second area, I hope that the Scottish Government will clarify its position on the issue of unconventional gas extraction in Scotland. That is an issue that has seen concern expressed, including by Nicola Sturgeon's own back benches and from people in communities right across Scotland. However, only recently, we have heard and confirmed that unconventional gas developments can take place in Scotland and that they will be viewed on their merits. It is also clear, though, that such developments cannot take place without planning consent, even if we do not get additional powers to control the licensing area. We already have the ability to say no to this industry. Minister will soon have to make decisions on unconventional gas developments in Scotland. Many of us will feel entitled to treat the first such decision as a test case. We do not want mere caution in this area. We want Scotland's Government to say no unambiguously to this destructive and unnecessary new wave of fossil fuel extraction in Scotland. I finish by once again offering my sincere congratulations, goodwill and my hopes that the Scottish Government under Nicola Sturgeon's stewardship will make the right decision in all of these areas. I thank you very much indeed for your kind words earlier. I thank the party leaders for their kind words, too. Long may they continue. Last but most importantly, I thank my fellow members of Parliament for giving me the honour and the privilege of being your nominee as the next First Minister of Scotland. My pledge today to every citizen of our country is simple but heartfelt. I will be First Minister for all of Scotland. Regardless of your politics or your point of view, my job is to serve you and I promise that I will do so to the very best of my ability. This is a special and a very proud moment for me, a working-class girl from Ayrshire, given the job of heading up the Government of Scotland. It is also a big moment for my family and I am delighted that they join me here today. I am particularly delighted and relieved to note that, so far at any rate, my niece and nephew appear to be on their best behaviour. I am so grateful to all of my family here today and, in particular, to my mum, my dad, my sister and my husband for the unwavering support that they have always given me in everything that I have chosen to do. Now that I am First Minister, I suspect that I am going to need that support more than ever, and I am very lucky in knowing that it will always be there. I also want to thank my constituency office staff for the invaluable work that they do each and every day for me and for my constituents in Glasgow Southside. Like you, I have been a member of this Parliament since its re-establishment in 1999. That means that I have had the opportunity at close quarters to watch and to learn from all of my predecessors as First Minister. Each of them, in their own unique ways, have been passionate and diligent advocates for Scotland. I have the greatest respect for all of them. For the late Donald Dure, Henry McLeish, Jack McConnell and Alex Amond, I am genuinely humbled that my name will now be added to that distinguished list. That our Parliament and Government, in just 15 short years, have come to be so firmly established and, dare I say it, respected in our national life is a real testament to the quality of their stewardship and their leadership. However, I am sure that members will understand why I want to pay a particular tribute to Alex Amond today. Without the guidance and support that Alex has given me over more than 20 years, it is unlikely that I would be standing here. I owe him a personal debt of gratitude, and it is important to me to put my thanks to him on the public record today. Alex Amond's place in history as one of Scotland's greatest leaders is secure and rightly so. However, I have no doubt that he has a big contribution yet to make to politics in Scotland. I know that I will continue to seek his wise counsel and who knows from time to time he might seek mine too. To become First Minister is special and it is a big responsibility to make history as the first woman First Minister is even more so. I am reminded today of a quote that I once read from Florence Horsborough, who Ruth Davidson will know was a Conservative MP for Dundee when, in 1936, she became the first woman to reply to what was then the king's speech in the House of Commons. She said, if in these new and novel surroundings I equip myself but poorly, when I sit down, I shall at least have two thoughts for my consolation, it has never been done better by a woman before, and whatever else may be said about me in the future from hence forward I am historic. I can sympathise with the sentiment, though I hope not to need any such consolation. Indeed, I much prefer this quote from the same speech. I think of this occasion as the opening of a gate into a new field of opportunity. I hope that my election as First Minister does indeed help to open the gate to greater opportunity for all women. I hope that it sends a strong positive message to girls and young women, indeed to all women across our land. There should be no limit to your ambition or what you can achieve. If you are good enough and if you work hard enough, the sky is the limit and no glass ceiling should ever stop you from achieving your dreams. I hope that that is the message of my election, as indeed it was of yours, but it is what I do as First Minister that will matter much more than the example that I set simply by holding the office. I am leading by example on equal representation and encouraging others to follow, addressing low pay, improving childcare.  My niece, who is in the gallery today with her brother and her cousins, is eight years old. She does not yet know about the gender pay gap or underrepresentation, or the barriers such as high childcare costs that make it so hard for so many women to work and pursue careers. My fervent hope is that she never will know about any of those issues by the time that she is a young woman, because she will have been consigned to history. If, during my tenure as First Minister, I can play a part in making that soul for my niece and for every other little girl in this country, I will be very, very happy indeed. I am taking on the responsibilities of First Minister at an exciting time in our nation's history. All of us, regardless of party, have been inspired and indeed challenged by the flourishing of democracy that we have witnessed during and since the referendum. Democratic politics in Scotland has never been more alive, and the expectations that people have of their politicians and their Parliament have never been higher. There is a burning desire across our country to build a more prosperous, fairer and better Scotland. People did not just vote yes for a better country. I know that those who voted no want a better country too. I intend to lead a Government that delivers on those aspirations. My role as First Minister will be to help to build a Scotland that all those who live and work here can be proud of—a nation both social democratic and socially just, a Scotland confident in itself, proud of its successes and honest about its weaknesses, a Scotland of good government and civic empowerment, a Scotland vigorous and determined in its resolution to address poverty, support business, promote growth and tackle inequality. Those are the points against which my Government will set its compass. I earnestly believe that in doing so we will reflect the wishes, hopes and desires, the dreams even of the Scottish people. Of course, we will have our differences across parties in this chamber as to the best way forward. We must never shy away from robust debate, but we should strive always to be constructive and respectful. I want all members to know that where we are on common ground and I want to find as much of that as I can, you will find in me a willing and listening ally. It will surprise nobody to hear that I will always argue the case for more powers, indeed the full powers of independence for this Parliament. I do believe that the more we are able to do as a Parliament and Government, the better we can serve the people who elect us, but I will also and always do my utmost to govern well with the powers that we have now. My daily task will be to protect and improve our NHS, support our businesses at home and abroad, ensure that all children get the chance to fulfil their potential and keep our communities safe from crime. I intend to lead a Government with purpose, a Government that is bold, imaginative and adventurous. I know that there will be tough decisions to be made and I might not always get them right. It is not the case that all manner of things shall be well. I will face challenges, but I will strive to meet them positively and with fortitude and I know that I will be inspired and sustained each and every day by the potential of this country and of the people who live here. I want to end with another quote from the Earl of Seafield, the Chancellor of Scotland, who signed away Scotland's sovereign independence in 1707. As he did so, he lamented, there is an end of an old saying. The song lay lost for 292 years until we reconvened this Parliament in 1999. This First Minister intends to make sure that we adorn that old song with new verses, verses that tell of a modern and confident Scotland, fit for purpose and fit for all of her people. Together, let us now get on with writing that story. Thank you First Minister. I now close this meeting.