As First Minister, he oversaw the introduction of free personal care for the elderly and initiated the Scottish Executive's response to the September 11 attacks in New York City.

On the same day, McLeish was presented by Her Majesty the Queen with a Royal Warrant of Appointment and was officially sworn in at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

It was the continuation of the Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition that had existed under the Dewar government, with Jim Wallace remaining as Deputy First Minister.

In the wake of the 2000 SQA exam controversy, he removed Sam Galbraith as education minister, replacing him with his leadership opponent McConnell.

[18] He was initially concerned about Scotland's defence strategy and feared the country's major cities, such as Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, would be targets based on their economic strength and significance to the Scottish, UK and European economies.

[18] In the immediate aftermath of the attacks in the United States, McLeish instructed all airports in Scotland to be on alert and tighten their security measures.

[19] McLeish focussed on strengthening security, protection and defence systems in Scotland to ensure the country was equipped to deal with a large scale terrorist attack.

McLeish led the then Scottish Executive to working with the UK Government to ensure appropriate measures and strengthen security was in place within Scotland.

[18] On September 13, 2001, McLeish moved a motion in the Scottish Parliament to send condolences to the people of the United States and New York.

[19] Through the motion, McLeish said "the Parliament condemns the senseless and abhorrent acts of terrorism carried out in the United States yesterday and extends our deepest sympathies to those whose loved ones have been killed or injured".

[24] McLeish appointed Jack McConnell, his eventual successor as First Minister, to further promote Scottish interests and Scotland in Europe and for external affairs across the European Union.

As First Minister, McLeish was highly critical of what he claimed was plans by the Scottish Conservative party to privatise NHS Scotland, as well as the SNP for "having no private sector involvement".

[26] During his tenure as First Minister, McLeish long said that the Scottish Executive was in regular contact with Her Majesty's Government in London over the issue of personal care for the elderly.

During a parliamentary speech in September 2001, McLeish stated that "greater priority is being given to mental health in Scotland, and the assumption is being made that people who are homeless have more problems than most.

[29] In April 2001, reports emerged of McLeish receiving £4,000 annually from 1998 from the law firm Digby Brown, who were sub letting his constituency office in Glenrothes, Fife.

On 28 October, the Fife Constabulary announced its launch of an investigation following complaints made against McLeish and he refused to answer questions from reporters.

[33] By 2 November, the Leader of the Opposition at Holyrood, John Swinney, calls for McLeish's resignation after a "humiliating" appearance on the BBC's Question Time, when he admits he was unaware of the total sum of money involved.