 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "First minister" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(August 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Part ofthe Politics series on |
| Executive government |
|---|
| Head of state |
| Government |
|
| Systems |
| Lists |
| Politics portal |
Afirst minister is any of a variety of leaders of governmentcabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister".
In the United Kingdom, the title offirst minister is used to refer to the political leader of adevolved national government, such as thedevolved governments ofScotland,Wales, andNorthern Ireland, or of a dependent territory.
In Australia and Canada, the term is used to refer collectively to the Prime Minister and the state or provincial premiers.
InAustralia, a first minister is one of theheads of government, including thePrime Minister of Australia and thePremiers and chief ministers of the Australian states and territories.
InCanada, a first minister is any of the Canadian firstministers of the Crown, otherwise known asheads of government, including thePrime Minister of Canada and theprovincial and territorialpremiers. The title is used in such formulae as "first ministers' meetings".
InNewfoundland and Labrador, theInuit self-governing region ofNunatsiavut provides for afirst minister responsible to the Nunatsiavut Assembly.
Thehead of government of Norway was calledfirst minister (Norwegian:førstestatsråd) between 1814 and 1873, while it was inpersonal unionwith Sweden. In 1893, 12 years prior to thedissolution of the union, it was changed toprime minister (statsminister).
In the United Kingdom, the termfirst minister was once used interchangeably withprime minister, such as whenWinston Churchill stated: "I did not become His Majesty's First Minister so that I might oversee the liquidation of the British Empire!"
Nowadays, the term is used to describe the leaders of thedevolved governments ofScotland,[1]Wales andNorthern Ireland. See
InAustralia, thepremiers and chief ministers are the first ministers of thestates and territories respectively.
InGermany, the first minister in each federal state is known as theMinister President (Ministerpräsident). A similar term exists in countries with some historic German influence, e.g.Latvia, theNetherlands etc.
InMalaysia, the first minister for each state with a Malay ruler is known as theMenteri Besar. Meanwhile, the heads of government in the four states without a monarch are calledchief ministers.
George Price held the office of First Minister ofBritish Honduras from 1961 until 1964, when it became self-governing and the title was changed toPremier. He continued as Premier after thecolony changed its names toBelize, and then asPrime Minister after Belize gained full independence in 1981.