I’m delighted to tell you that I’m now Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture in the first ever SNP government.

I’m amazingly pleased with the progress that our government has made and I’m looking forward to continuing to deliver for the people of Scotland and to encourage Scotland back to Independence.

The downside, of course, is that I’ll have to give up doing my diary.  I’ll miss doing it, it was good to have a discipline that forced me to sit down every week and think about what I had done and what I had achieved.

It has been a busy time for all SNP MSPs, following the energetic lead given by Alex Salmond as First Minister, hard work but worth it.  It’s exhausting, but we entered politics to change Scotland for the better and that takes hard work.

One thing I took great pride in, though, was being the Minister representing Scotland’s SNP Government at the unveiling of a memorial to the Scots soldiers who died at Passchendaele recently – a memorial finally being erected through the efforts of the communities around the battle site who never forgot the sacrifice made by the Scots.

In Parliament Alex Salmond continues to outshine his opponents at every opportunity, just as the other Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers do.  Day after day our SNP Government is showing that Scotland can make its own decisions and make good decisions and that can only help to bring Independence closer.  We’re showing what cane be done with devolved government – the next step is to show people what can be done with an Independent Government.

I can’t write the diary anymore, but I want to introduce you to my good friend and colleague, Christina McKelvie MSP who will be taking it over.

Christina was elected as an MSP in May and represents the same area as I do – Central Scotland.  I know you’ll enjoy hearing about Christina’s working week, she’s a hard worker and doesn’t give an inch when she believes she’s right.