Nicola Sturgeon to be sworn in as Scotland's First Minister

Nicola Sturgeon will be officially sworn in as Scotland's First Minister today.

The SNP leader's appointment was approved by MSPs at Holyrood on Tuesday after her party won the largest number of seats in the Scottish election.

Ms Sturgeon, 45, will be formally sworn in as First Minister and Keeper of the Scottish Seal at the Court of Session in Edinburgh this morning.

Accepting her appointment, Ms Sturgeon said: "There is quite simply no greater privilege than to be elected to serve as the First Minister of our country.

"I pledge that for each and every day that I hold this office that I will strive to fulfil the duties placed on me to the very best of my ability, and a promise to use all of the powers that this office places in my hands to make this country an even better place to live."

Following the swearing-in ceremony, Ms Sturgeon will embark for the First Minister's official residence at Bute House in Edinburgh, where she is understood to be holding discussions with MSPs who will form the next Scottish cabinet.

Ms Sturgeon won the vote for nomination as First Minister with 63 votes from the SNP, from a total of 127.

A further five votes were cast by Liberal Democrat MSPs for their leader Willie Rennie, who also put himself forward for nomination, while there were 59 abstentions from Conservative, Labour and Green MSPs.

She became Scotland's first female first minister in 2014, succeeding Alex Salmond, who stood down following the No vote in the Scottish independence referendum.