Swinney becomes Deputy First Minister

Finance Minister and former SNP leader John Swinney has been named as Scotland's new Deputy First Minister, as Nicola Sturgeon begins to reshuffle her cabinet.

Sturgeon tweeted a selfie of herself with her new deputy, and Swinney tweeted: "It is the greatest privilege for me to be appointed deputy first minister of Scotland. I will do all I can to serve my country."

Other cabinet ministers have been summoned to Bute House to learn their fate, with opposition parties calling for the removal of Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, among others.

Education Secretary Michael Russell also took to twitter to announce he had been moved on from the role.  "Hugely privileged to be CabSecELL for 1815 days & learnt something in every one. Wish new CabSecELL all success in a wonderful job," he said