Three women aged under 38 and who have no electoral experience were yesterday appointed part of the first Scottish cabinet by the new First Minister, Mr Donald Dewar.
The new Edinburgh government began to take shape yesterday, as Mr Dewar resigned from Mr Tony Blair's government in London. He was formally appointed by Queen Elizabeth at her residence of Holyrood Palace, opposite the site of the new parliament. Later he received the ancient Great Seal of Scotland before 11 judges sitting in Scotland's highest civil court.
While Mr Dewar was appointing three women to his 11-member cabinet, Mr Blair was snubbing Mrs Helen Liddell, who had been in line to take over the post of Secretary of State for Scotland. Instead, Mr Dewar's former role is taken by Mr John Reid, until yesterday the transport minister.
It remains unclear what that role now entails, as almost all its powers will be taken over by Edinburgh when the new parliament is formally opened on July 1st.
The shape of the Scottish cabinet reflects the new reality of coalition government, with Mr Jim Wallace, leader of the Liberal Democrat Party, the junior partner in the Labour-led administration, taking the post of deputy First Minister, with responsibility for justice. Mr Ross Finnie, also of the smaller party, is rural affairs minister.
Possibly the toughest job in the cabinet goes to Mr Henry McLeish, formerly in charge of justice, and now with responsibility for the economy and higher education. In that role, he has to find a way of bridging the gap that remains between the coalition partners on student tuition fees.
Liberal Democrats promised to scrap them, and have reserved their position until an independent inquiry reports on student finance later this year. Mr Wallace faces a backbench revolt from his 16-member group if he tries to water down their commitment on the issue, which could bring down the first coalition in Britain since 1945.
Ms Susan Deacon (35), a former university administrator who had never been elected to any public post before May 6th, is to take charge of Scotland's health ministry, with a renewed emphasis on tackling the country's dismal record for ill-health and poor diet. Originally, she was rejected from the Labour Party's approved list of candidates for the election.
Ms Wendy Alexander (35), also newly elected but a former adviser to Mr Dewar, is charged with tackling poverty in Scotland and is housing minister. Ms Sarah Boyack (37) takes responsibility for environment policy and a bid to create an integrated transport policy.