Second Salmond government

Alex Salmond formed the second Salmond government on 19 May 2011 following his Scottish National Party's landslide victory in the 2011 election to the 4th Scottish Parliament. This was the first single-party majority government in the history of the devolved parliament. Salmond's second government ended on 18 November 2014 upon his resignation as First Minister of Scotland.

2011 to 2012
On 18 May 2011, after Salmond was re-elected as first minister, his cabinet was increased in size, from five cabinet secretaries to eight. Nicola Sturgeon was re-appointed as Deputy First Minister and Health Secretary. John Swinney, Kenny McAskill and Richard Lochhead all remained in cabinet, with Fiona Hyslop returning, having served as Education Secretary from 2007 to 2009. Bruce Crawford and Alex Neil were promoted to cabinet.

2012 to 2013
In September 2012, Salmond made a snap reshuffle in light of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Neil switched roles, with Sturgeon taking on responsibility for the independence referendum. Bruce Crawford announced his retirement from government.

2013 to 2014
In 2014, Shona Robison and Angela Constance were promoted to cabinet. Robison oversaw relations for the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and Constance saw matters of employment.

Salmond announced his resignation as leader of the Scottish National Party on 19 September 2014 following the Scottish independence referendum; his resignation as SNP Leader took effect on 14 November when Nicola Sturgeon was elected unopposed to replace him.

On the 18 November, Salmond officially resigned as first minister and two days later Sturgeon formed her first government, dissolving Salmond's cabinet.

September 2012 to November 2014
{| class="wikitable" ! colspan="4" |

Cabinet
! style="width: 340px" |Post ! colspan="1" |Minister !Portrait !Term
 * First Minister
 * The Rt Hon. Alex Salmond MSP
 * Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland (cropped).jpg||2007–2014
 * Deputy First Minister 
 * rowspan="2" | Nicola Sturgeon MSP
 * rowspan="2" |Nicola Sturgeon.jpg|| 2007–2014
 * rowspan="1" |Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Capital Investment and Cities
 * 2012–2014
 * Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth
 * John Swinney MSP
 * John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Sustainable Growth (1).jpg||2007–2014
 * Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning
 * Michael Russell MSP
 * Michael Russell (Scottish politician).jpg||2009–2014
 * Cabinet Secretary for Justice
 * Kenny MacAskill MSP
 * Kenny MacAskill, Cabinet Secretary for Justice (1).jpg||2007–2014
 * Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment
 * Richard Lochhead MSP
 * Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Environment (1).jpg||2007–2014
 * Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs
 * Fiona Hyslop MSP
 * Fiona Hyslop, Minister for Culture and External Affairs (1).jpg||2011–2014
 * rowspan="1" |Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing
 * Alex Neil MSP
 * Alex Neil, Minister for Housing and Communities (1).jpg
 * 2012–2014
 * Cabinet Secretary for Training, Youth and Women’s Employment
 * Angela Constance MSP
 * AngelaConstanceMSP20110510.JPG||2014
 * Cabinet Secretary for Commonwealth Games, Sport, Equalities and Pensioners' Rights
 * Shona Robison MSP
 * ShonaRobisonMSP20110511.jpg||2014
 * }
 * Alex Neil, Minister for Housing and Communities (1).jpg
 * 2012–2014
 * Cabinet Secretary for Training, Youth and Women’s Employment
 * Angela Constance MSP
 * AngelaConstanceMSP20110510.JPG||2014
 * Cabinet Secretary for Commonwealth Games, Sport, Equalities and Pensioners' Rights
 * Shona Robison MSP
 * ShonaRobisonMSP20110511.jpg||2014
 * }
 * ShonaRobisonMSP20110511.jpg||2014
 * }

Junior ministers
{| class="wikitable" ! colspan=3 |

Junior ministers
!style="width: 350px"|Post !colspan="1"|Minister !Term
 * Minister for External Affairs and International Development
 * Humza Yousaf MSP ||2011–2014
 * Minister for Public Health
 * Michael Matheson MSP ||2011–2014
 * Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism
 * Fergus Ewing MSP ||2011–2014
 * rowspan="2"|Minister for Local Government and Planning
 * Aileen Campbell MSP ||2011
 * Derek Mackay MSP ||2011–2014
 * rowspan="2"|Minister for Children and Young People
 * Angela Constance MSP ||2011–2014
 * Aileen Campbell MSP ||2011–2014
 * Minister for Learning and Skills
 * rowspan="2"|Dr Alasdair Allan MSP ||2011
 * Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland's Languages
 * 2011–2014
 * Minister for Parliamentary Business and Chief Whip
 * Brian Adam MSP ||2011–2012
 * Minister for Parliamentary Business
 * Joe FitzPatrick MSP ||2012–2014
 * Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs
 * Roseanna Cunningham MSP ||2011–2014
 * rowspan="2"|Minister for Environment and Climate Change
 * Stewart Stevenson MSP ||2011–2012
 * Paul Wheelhouse MSP ||2012–2014
 * rowspan="1"|Minister for Housing and Transport
 * rowspan="2"|Keith Brown MSP
 * rowspan="1"|2011–2012
 * rowspan="1"|Minister for Transport and Veterans
 * rowspan="1"|2012–2014
 * }
 * Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs
 * Roseanna Cunningham MSP ||2011–2014
 * rowspan="2"|Minister for Environment and Climate Change
 * Stewart Stevenson MSP ||2011–2012
 * Paul Wheelhouse MSP ||2012–2014
 * rowspan="1"|Minister for Housing and Transport
 * rowspan="2"|Keith Brown MSP
 * rowspan="1"|2011–2012
 * rowspan="1"|Minister for Transport and Veterans
 * rowspan="1"|2012–2014
 * }
 * rowspan="1"|2011–2012
 * rowspan="1"|Minister for Transport and Veterans
 * rowspan="1"|2012–2014
 * }
 * }
 * }

Scottish law officers
{| class="wikitable" ! colspan=3 |

Law officers
!style="width: 365px"|Post || Name || Term
 * Lord Advocate
 * The Right Hon. Frank Mulholland QC ||2011–2014
 * Solicitor General for Scotland
 * Lesley Thomson QC ||2011–2014
 * }
 * Lesley Thomson QC ||2011–2014
 * }