The Minister for Business is a Junior ministerial post in the Scottish Government. As a result, the Minister does not attend the Scottish Cabinet. The post was retitled in May 2024, with the Minister supporting the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic, Kate Forbes.

List of office holders

The current Minister for Business is Richard Lochhead. {| class="wikitable" style="margin: 0 0 0 1em; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; "

Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism

!colspan="2"|Name ! width=75|Portrait !Entered Office !Left Office !Party !First Minister

Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism

Nicola Sturgeon

Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy

Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills

Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise

Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade

Minister for Business

History

From 1999 to 2007, enterprise and energy were the responsibility of the Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning. The Second McConnell government from 2003 to 2007 instituted Tourism as a portfolio, combined with Culture and Sport, as the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport. The Salmond government, elected following the 2007 Scottish Parliament election created the junior post of Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism by combining the roles. In November 2014 his post became the Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism, as part of the first Sturgeon government. The post was retitled as Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy as part of the second Sturgeon government, and renamed again in June 2018 to Business, Fair Work and Skills. Upon the creation of the Third Sturgeon Government, the post was once more retitled as Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise.