Nicola Sturgeon made the announcement as she begins to reshuffle her Cabinet following the election. Swinney, who has served as Deputy First Minister since 2014 and as Education Secretary since 2016, will take responsibility for driving cross-government action on recovery from the pandemic. The role will see him mobilise the Scottish Government and wider public, private and third sectors to help the country get back onto its feet after the crisis. He will chair a cross-party steering group on Covid recovery which is expected to hold its first meeting next week. Swinney will also take the lead on inter-governmental relations, public service reform, including within government, and the delivery of a number of projects across government and wider society.