Editing First minister

{{Short description|Leader in a government cabinet}}
{{Refimprove|date=August 2014}}
{{Executive}}
A '''first minister''' is any of a variety of leaders of government [[Cabinet (government)|cabinet]]s. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of ''first minister'' is used to refer to the political leader of a [[devolution|devolved]] national government, such as the [[Devolution in the United Kingdom|devolved governments]] of [[First Minister of Scotland|Scotland]], [[First Minister of Wales|Wales]], and [[Executive Office (Northern Ireland)|Northern Ireland]], or of a dependent territory.

==Canada==
{{Further|Premier (Canada)}}
In [[Canada]], a first minister is any of the Canadian first [[Minister of the Crown|ministers of the Crown]], otherwise known as [[Head of Government|heads of government]], including the [[Prime Minister of Canada]] and the [[Provinces and territories of Canada|provincial and territorial]] [[premier]]s. The title is used in such formulae as "[[first ministers' meetings]]".

In [[Newfoundland and Labrador]], the [[Inuit]] self-governing region of [[Nunatsiavut]] provides for a [[First Minister of Nunatsiavut|first minister]] responsible to the Nunatsiavut Assembly.

==Norway==
The [[head of government of Norway]] was called ''first minister'' ({{Langx|no|førstestatsråd}}) between 1814 and 1873, while it was in [[personal union]] [[Union between Sweden and Norway|with Sweden]]. In 1893, 12 years prior to the [[Dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905|dissolution of the union]], it was changed to [[prime minister]] (''statsminister'').

==United Kingdom==
In the United Kingdom, the term ''first minister'' was once used interchangeably with [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|prime minister]], such as when [[Winston 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 the [[Devolution in the United Kingdom|devolved]] governments of [[Scotland]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/People |title=About: People: Who runs the Scottish Government |publisher=[[Scottish Government]] |date=10 March 2014 |access-date=17 August 2014}}</ref> [[Wales]] and [[Northern Ireland]]. See

*[[List of current heads of government in the United Kingdom and dependencies#Government of the United Kingdom|List of first ministers]]
*[[First Minister of Scotland]]
*[[First Minister of Wales]]
*[[First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland]]

==Other==
In [[Australia]], the [[Premiers and chief ministers of the Australian states and territories|premiers and chief ministers]] are the first ministers of the [[Australian states and territories|states and territories]] respectively.

In [[Germany]], the first minister in each federal state is known as the [[Minister President]] (''Ministerpräsident''). A similar term exists in countries with some historic German influence, e.g. [[Latvia]], the [[Netherlands]] etc.

In [[Malaysia]], the first minister for each state with a Malay ruler is known as the [[Menteri Besar]]. Meanwhile, the heads of government in the four states without a monarch are called [[chief minister]]s.

[[George Cadle Price|George Price]] held the office of First Minister of [[British Honduras]] from 1961 until 1964, when it became self-governing and the title was changed to [[Premier]]. He continued as Premier after the [[colony]] changed its names to [[Belize]], and then as [[Prime Minister]] after Belize gained full independence in 1981.

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Types of heads of government}}

[[Category:Gubernatorial titles]]
[[Category:Heads of government]]
[[Category:Positions of subnational authority]]