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New Scottish cabinet to take oath Legal official loses Cabinet seat
(about 23 hours later)
Scotland's new cabinet is set to be sworn in at the Court of Session in Edinburgh. Scotland's top law officer has lost her seat at the Scottish Cabinet table.
Nicola Sturgeon, John Swinney, Fiona Hyslop, Kenny MacAskill and Richard Lochhead will all take the oath of office in front of senior judges. The new SNP government has decided to stop inviting Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini to the weekly meeting of senior ministers.
They will then take part in their first official cabinet meeting. First Minister Alex Salmond told BBC Scotland he wanted law officers who were "independent of politics".
First Minister Alex Salmond has rescheduled the weekly gathering from a Wednesday morning to a Tuesday afternoon. The move emerged after Mr Salmond's Cabinet secretaries were formally sworn in to office at the Court of Session, before the new Cabinet's first meeting.
His cabinet has five secretaries, each presiding over their own departments and ministers. Under UK law, the Lord Advocate remains a member of the Scottish government and its legal adviser, as well as Scotland's chief prosecutor.
The Lord Advocate normally attends the weekly Cabinet meeting, but Mr Salmond said he wanted law officers to establish "independence from the political process".
That will mean Ms Angiolini and her successors will no longer be invited to Cabinet meetings and other political discussions.
Cabinet was sworn in at the Court of Session
Earlier, Mr Salmond's new Cabinet secretaries, Nicola Sturgeon, John Swinney, Fiona Hyslop, Kenny MacAskill and Richard Lochhead all took the oath of office in front of senior judges.
The first minister, who was sworn in earlier, has rescheduled the weekly Cabinet meeting from a Wednesday morning to a Tuesday afternoon.
The five secretaries will each preside over their own departments and ministers.
Ms Sturgeon, the SNP's deputy leader, is deputy first minister and health secretary.Ms Sturgeon, the SNP's deputy leader, is deputy first minister and health secretary.
Mr Swinney is secretary for finance, Ms Hyslop handles education and lifelong learning, Mr MacAskill has been handed the justice brief and Mr Lochhead handles rural affairs and the environment. Mr Swinney is secretary for finance, Ms Hyslop handles education and lifelong learning, Mr MacAskill has been handed the justice brief and Mr Lochhead oversees rural affairs and the environment.