Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf resigned on Monday ahead of a vote of no confidence on Wednesday, that appeared he would lose.
The 39-year-old leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) was facing votes of no confidence after ending the SNP’s power sharing agreement with the Scottish Greens last Thursday. One such vote was from the Scottish Conservatives, while the other was introduced by Scottish Labour for the Scottish government as a whole.
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“The SNP leader has quit rather than face a humiliating defeat,” said Douglas Ross, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, ahead of Yousaf’s press conference.
Former SNP leader John Swinney had reportedly been approached by senior party figures to act as an interim first minister in Yousaf’s absence. Swinney led his party from 2000 to 2004, before resigning and handing over to Alex Salmond. He also served as deputy first minister under Nicola Sturgeon, leaving the role shortly after her resignation.
The Scottish parliament will now have 28 days to find Yousaf’s successor through a majority vote among members of the Scottish Parliament. In the rare event that a majority is not reached, an election will be called.
Scotland’s coalition government collapsed following a bitter row over the Scottish government’s decision to abandon a major carbon emissions target. The Bute House Agreement saw the Scottish Greens brought into government for the first time in 2021.
The Green’s two junior ministers, Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater, were informed by Yousaf that their agreement had been terminated. At the time, the outgoing leader said the alliance has “served its purpose.”
But Yousaf had attracted growing criticism in Scotland and from politicians across the U.K. over his decision.
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Scottish Green Party co-leader Lorna Slater told Sky News that Yousaf has shown “very poor judgment” in ending the affiliation with her party.
“I think he showed very poor judgment to suddenly collapse a pro-independence majority government when we’d worked together really well for two and a half years, we’d achieved some great things,” Slater told the broadcaster.
She added that Yousaf likely succumbed to pressure from conservative and right wing voices within his party.
Yousaf replaced Sturgeon as First Minister last March, in a historic win that saw him become the first non-white and Muslim leader of Scotland, as well as the first Muslim leader of a Western democracy.
“We should all take pride in the fact that today we have sent a clear message that your color of skin or indeed your faith is not a barrier to leading the country that we all call home,” Yousaf said after winning the leadership contest.
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