LONDON: Scotland’s leader Humza Yousaf resigned on Monday, further opening the door to the UK opposition Labour Party regaining ground in its former Scottish heartlands in a national election expected to be held later this year.

Yousaf said he was quitting as head of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) and first minister of Scotland’s devolved government after a week of chaos triggered by his scrapping of a coalition agreement with Scotland’s Greens.

He then failed to secure enough support to survive a vote of no confidence, which was expected later this week.

“I’ve concluded that repairing our relationship across the political divide can only be done with someone else at the helm,” Yousaf said as he resigned a little over a year after he replaced Nicola Sturgeon as first minister and SNP leader.

Says task of repairing political ties should be carried out by ‘someone else’

He said he would continue until a successor was chosen in an SNP leadership contest.

The party is losing popular support after 17 years of heading the Scottish government.

‘Level of hurt’

Yousaf abruptly ended a power-sharing agreement between the SNP and the Green Party after a row over climate change targets. Caught between defe­nding the record of the coalition government and some nationalists’ demands to jettison gender recognition reforms and refocus on the economy, Yousaf was unable to strike a balance that would ensure his survival.

He said he had “underestimated the level of hurt” he caused the Greens by ending their alliance but was “not willing to trade my values and principles or do deals with whomever, simply for retaining power” in an apparent swipe at the SNP’s rival pro-independence Alba Party.

The Scottish parliament now has 28 days to choose a new first minister before an election is forced.

If the SNP is unable to find a new leader who can command support in parliament, a Scottish election will be held.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2024