Humza Yousaf Stands Down As Scotland First Minister And SNP Leader

Scotland's first minister and leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) Humza Yousaf has announced his decision to resign.

The first minister faced a no confidence vote in his leadership later this week following his decision to end the Bute House Agreement with the Scottish Greens.

Yousaf made the announcement in a speech at Bute House, just days after telling reporters he would fight on as first minister. 

The Scottish Conservatives said the first minister had quit rather than face a “humiliating defeat”.

A former justice secretary and health secretary, Yousaf became first minister last year after defeating Kate Forbes and Ash Regan for the SNP leadership. The contest followed the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon.

Despite vowing to continue his predecessor’s agenda, Yousaf’s government was forced to drop plans for reform of the Gender Recognition Act after the legislation was blocked by the UK Government. It also put off plans for a deposit return scheme and scrapped plans for Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs). Earlier this month it was confirmed the government would ditch a key 2030 climate pledge.

But it was Yousaf’s decision to end the power-sharing deal with the Greens which sparked a furious reaction from his party’s erstwhile partners in government and ultimately led to his downfall.

That decision was followed by a motion of no confidence put forward by the Scottish Tories, which all the other main parties including the Greens said they would support.

A further motion of no confidence in the government as a whole, lodged by Labour, would lead to a general election if successful.

A Downing Street spokesperson told reporters ahead of Yousaf's resignation speech that the UK Government would work with a new administration