Politare

Output (GVA) per person during each first minister's tenure

4 first ministers, ranked by how output (GVA) per person changed from their first day in office, next to the United Kingdom over the same months. Politare shows what happened during a tenure; it does not claim the office-holder caused it.

Sort by
Tenures
Period
Order
#First ministerCountryIn officeTotalvs UKPer yearChart
1Lab Jack McConnellScotland 22 Nov 2001 – 16 May 2007 +20.5% 2001 → 2006+5.3 pts UK +15.1%+3.8%/yr
2Lab Rhodri MorganWales 9 Feb 2000 – 10 Dec 2009 +15.4% 1999 → 2009−2.5 pts UK +17.9%+1.4%/yr
3UUP David TrimbleNorthern Ireland 1 Jul 1998 – 1 Jul 2001 from 1998+13.7% 1998 → 2001+5.1 pts UK +8.7%+4.4%/yr
4Lab Carwyn JonesWales 10 Dec 2009 – 13 Dec 2018 +8.5% 2009 → 2018+3.4 pts UK +5.1%+0.9%/yr
5Con David CameronEngland 11 May 2010 – 13 Jul 2016 +3.9% 2009 → 2016+0.2 pts UK +3.7%+0.5%/yr
6Con Theresa MayEngland 13 Jul 2016 – 24 Jul 2019 +2.8% 2016 → 2019−0.1 pts UK +2.9%+0.9%/yr
7SNP Nicola SturgeonScotland 20 Nov 2014 – 29 Mar 2023 +2.1% 2014 → 2022−3.5 pts UK +5.6%+0.3%/yr
8Lab Mark DrakefordWales 13 Dec 2018 – 20 Mar 2024 −2.0% 2018 → 2023−2.1 pts UK +0.1%−0.4%/yr
9Con Boris JohnsonEngland 24 Jul 2019 – 6 Sep 2022 −2.3% 2019 → 2022−0.0 pts UK −2.3%−0.8%/yr
10SNP Alex SalmondScotland 16 May 2007 – 20 Nov 2014 −3.2% 2006 → 2014+1.7 pts UK −4.9%−0.4%/yr

Showing 10 of 12 tenures.

Sorted by total, highest first. Every row is indexed to the last count complete before the first day in office ("from" marks a start that had to move because that count had no data, or because the period cut it); the United Kingdom is measured over the same months. Levels are per cent changes, rates are differences in %; "per year" compounds levels and divides rates. Tenures with under 12 months, or under three observations, are left out. £ per person, in today's money · ONS regional gross value added (balanced) via nomis (NM_2400_1), output where it is produced, over the resident mid-year population (NM_2002_1), adjusted for inflation with the UK CPI (D7BT), calendar years dated at mid-year; a city that people commute into reads high · nation data · as of Jul 2026.

Sources: ONS (national accounts, Labour Force Survey, average weekly earnings, CPI, public sector finances; regional GVA, ASHE, population estimates and model-based unemployment via nomis), HM Land Registry UK House Price Index, GISCO, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons. Every chart is indexed to the office-holder's first day. Correlation is not credit. CreditsPrivacy