why he’s not powerful

• The First Minister has limited powers. They can only make decisions about issues that are devolved and this means they have no power over reserved matters, which means they are limited. For example, during the Covid-19 Pandemic Scotland couldn’t close the borders to international travel as only Westminster and the Prime Minister have that power
• The First Minister must answer to parliament. Even though he is in charge of the government and has a lot of power because of the number of MSPs he has in parliament, he must still go there every week and answer questions that sometimes embarrass him and his government. For example, each week John Swinney takes part in First Minister's Question time on a Thursday at 12pm
• The Scottish Government has a minority government. The SNP government does not have a majority of MSPs in the Scottish Parliament this means that the First Minister has to agree deals with smaller parties showing where he lacks power because he must make more compromises. For example, in 2021 the Greens and the SNP made a historic cooperation agreement to give the government a majority to pass crucial votes