NICOLA Sturgeon has vowed to govern for the whole of Scotland as she made history by being voted in as Scotland's first woman First Minister.
The SNP leader sought to reassure Scots the ongoing independence campaign would not overshadow her administration in a warmly received address to MSPs.
Reaching out across the constitutional divide, she said yesterday: "People didn't just vote Yes for a better country - I know that those who voted No want a better country too."
Ms Sturgeon also expressed the hope her election would inspire women and girls, while stressing her deeds in office would count for more than the example she had set by winning office.
With her eight-year-old niece, Harriet Owens, among a large group of family members watching from the VIP gallery at Holyrood, she said: "I hope that my election as First Minister does indeed help to open the gate to greater opportunity for all women."
Describing herself as "a working-class girl from Ayrshire," she added: "There should be no limit to your ambition or what you can achieve. If you are good enough and if you work hard enough, the sky is the limit - and no glass ceiling should ever stop you from achieving your dreams."
Prime Minister David Cameron called Ms Sturgeon to offer his congratulations after her election. A No 10 spokesman said they "agreed they wanted to build upon the relationship with her predecessor".
Ms Sturgeon, 44, will be formally sworn in as First Minister at the Court of Session in Edinburgh today. Unlike at Westminster, MSPs must vote to nominate a First Minister who is then automatically approved by the Queen.
Although the election was a formality, Ms Sturgeon was opposed by Scots Tory leader Ruth Davidson. She received 66 votes to Ms Davidson's 15, with 39 abstentions.
Ms Sturgeon faces her first First Minister's Questions today and will announce her Cabinet tomorrow amid growing pressure for her to replace Kenny MacAskill as Justice Secretary.
Her new Cabinet will meet on Monday to finalise details of her programme for government, the annual legislative and policy agenda delayed since September to allow her to take over.
Ms Sturgeon has promised reform of land ownership, measures to improve attainment in schools, action to tackle gender inequality and a crackdown on domestic abuse when the programme is presented to parliament on Wednesday.
She told MSPs she would not stop making the case for independence.
But she promised "to do my utmost to govern well with the powers we have now" and, reaching out to both sides in the independence campaign, said: "There is a burning desire across our country to build a more prosperous, fairer and better Scotland.
"People didn't just vote Yes for a better country - I know that those who voted No want a better country too."
Alex Salmond watched from an unfamiliar seat two rows from the front as his successor told MSPs: "Alex Salmond's place in history as one of Scotland's greatest leaders is secure and rightly so."
She said she would "continue to seek his wise counsel".
Meanwhile, a new forecast has suggested that the SNP would have more seats than the Liberal Democrats after the 2015 General Election.
The forecasting model, producing by the London School of Economics and two universities, projects the Nationalists would have 25 MPs and the LibDems 24.
The Conservatives would be the biggest party on 291 MPs, with Labour on 285, but the loss of so many LibDems would leave David Cameron short of a majority even if he agreed to retain the current Coalition arrangement. Ukip would return three MPs.
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