Nicola Sturgeon has been re-elected as First Minister despite a surprise challenge from the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats.
The SNP leader was returned with the backing of her 63 MSPs, while the Conservatives, Labour and the Greens all abstained.
The Liberal Democrat members backed their leader, Willie Rennie, whose unexpected bid for the top position in Scottish politics caused a stir in Holyrood and livened-up a vote that had been billed as a forgone conclusion.
Ms Sturgeon, who will put forward her cabinet for approval tomorrow, said there would be “no limit to our ambitions for our national parliament for our nation”.
The first minister intends to sit at the head of a minority government, the first since 2007, after falling just short of a majority in this month’s election.
She said: “With new powers coming to this parliament, the responsibility placed on us and, in particular, on the first minister is greater than ever before, but that is a responsibility that I am ready and eager to seize with both hands.
“During the election campaign I described the SNP manifesto as my application for the job of first minister, and the election allowed the people of Scotland to deliver their verdict.”
The Nationalist also said that she wanted to give parliament more teeth to hold her and the SNP government to account.
She said: “I have already made suggestions to strengthen parliament’s scrutiny of the first minister.
“I would like to see more time allocated to the weekly session of first minister’s question time to ensure that backbenchers are given more opportunity to ask questions.
“As first minister, I would (embrace) the opportunity … to appear more often before the parliament’s committee conveners.
“The proposals might in themselves be relatively minor, but I hope that they serve as an indication of the tone that I want to set in the Scottish Parliament’s fifth session.”
Ms Sturgeon’s appointment, which will be sent to the Queen for formal approval, was challenged by Mr Rennie – the leader of the Scottish Parliament’s smallest grouping.
He said: “This is the first time that I have stood for first minister in this parliament.
“I did not stand in 2011 or 2014 because the Scottish National Party had a majority then. No longer – it has lost that majority.
“In part, I am standing today to make that point. We are all minorities here.
“No manifesto commanded the support of a majority, so we all need partners to win votes. We are all equal in that respect.”
Other party leaders, including the Tories’ Ruth Davidson and Labour’s Kezia Dugdale, congratulated Ms Sturgeon on her election.
