Nicola Sturgeon has carried out a comprehensive reshuffle of her cabinet, replacing her longstanding but beleaguered ally Shona Robison, who has resigned as health secretary.
After announcing a purge of six veteran ministers, including the economy secretary Keith Brown and the equalities secretary Angela Constance, Scotland’s first minister promoted several rising stars in an effort to refresh her government.
They included Humza Yousaf, who becomes Scotland’s first cabinet secretary from a BAME background, taking over the justice brief, and Jeane Freeman, the widely admired social security minister who becomes health secretary.
As the reshuffle was underway, it emerged that Sturgeon’s flagship legislation on education reform had been shelved owing to opposition from councils, teachers’ unions and opposition parties.
John Swinney, the Scottish education secretary, said he had instead reached a voluntary agreement with councils to fast-track some elements of the draft bill, such as increasing the autonomy of headteachers.
Some cabinet roles have been merged into new posts as part of the reshuffle: Brown’s economy brief was rolled into the finance one of Derek Mackay, while a new transport and infrastructure post went to former the justice secretary Michael Matheson.
In line with Sturgeon’s gender-balanced cabinet policy, Aileen Campbell has been promoted to communities and local government secretary, while Shirley-Anne Somerville becomes the social security secretary.
The Brexit minister Mike Russell returned to the cabinet with a new post in charge of government business and the constitution, to oversee the country’s exit from the EU.
Robison, the most noteable departure, resigned after enduring months of intense criticism from opposition parties over her handling of the health service, including NHS funding crises affecting her home city of Dundee.
Robison is a close friend of Sturgeon, overseeing her leadership election in 2014. In her resignation letter, Robison referred to a “particularly challenging” year in her personal life. Her parents died; she had a health scare and her former husband Stewart Hosie, the Scottish National party MP for Dundee East, announced he was remarrying after an extramarital affair.
Robison said her proudest achievement was shepherding Scotland’s minimum pricing for alcohol legislation into force.
While health and the economy briefs were seen to need more dynamic leadership, Sturgeon was not under great pressure to remodel her cabinet but appeared to believe a major refresh could cement her party’s dominance. The SNP has a commanding lead in the polls, even after 11 years in power, and Sturgeon has no rivals for the leadership.
The reshuffle began on Tuesday morning with the announcement that Brown, a steady but low-key figure, would stand down after nine years in government to prepare party activists for a possible snap election in his new role as SNP deputy leader.
Brown had not expected to leave government. He had told reporters during the deputy leadership campaign that combining that post with a seat in cabinet would be a perfect fit.
All four opposition parties at Holyrood were scathing about Swinney’s decision to drop the education bill.
Iain Gray, Scottish Labour’s education spokesman, said: “This was the first minister’s top priority, her sacred obligation, now reduced to just another last minute, cobbled together action plan. The only thing being fast tracked here is the mother of all ministerial climb downs.”