News Item: Scottish Government First Minister to Resign
The First Minister of Scotland, Humza Yousaf MSP has said he will resign when a successor has been elected by his party. This follows the abrupt ending of a coalition agreement with the Scottish Green Party that has been in place since 2021.
The SNP is the largest party in the Scottish Parliament with 63 MSPs but this is just short of the 65 seats needed for a majority. Therefore the SNP has been relying on Green support for its legislative programme. The Greens had 2 ministerial places. The break with the Greens followed SNP policy reversals on decarbonisation and social policy.
If there is a contested leadership election then it may be a month or longer before a successor to Mr Yousaf is known.
A motion of no confidence in the Scottish Government has been tabled for debate by the Labour opposition but it is unlikely to pass after the Green Party said it will not support the vote against the entire government. They seem to have mainly objected to Mr Yousaf remaining in office.