Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf resigns accepting he does not have the support to continue as First Minister

Humza Yousaf has announced his resignation as Scotland’s First Minister ahead of forthcoming confidence votes.

Mr Yousaf had been battling for his political survival after terminating the powersharing deal between the SNP and Scottish Greens on Thursday.

He was facing a vote of no confidence, tabled by the Scottish Conservatives, while Scottish Labour had tabled one of no confidence in the Scottish Government as a whole, with both expected to take place this week.

Announcing his resignation at a press conference at Edinburgh’s Bute House on Monday, he said: “After spending the weekend reflecting on what is best for my party, for the government and for the country I lead, I’ve concluded that repairing our relationship across the political divide can only be done with someone else at the helm.

“I have therefore informed the SNP’s national secretary of my intention to stand down as party leader.”

The announcement of Mr Yousaf’s resignation comes exactly 13 months after he was sworn in as Scottish first minister.

Whoever is chosen to replace him will be the seventh person to hold the post since the Scottish Parliament was established in 1999 – as well as being the second person in just over a year to have the top job.

Humza Yousaf’s time as Scotland’s First Minister was difficult from the start.

While he has avoided being the shortest incumbent of the post, a title held by Labour’s Henry McLeish, who was in office for one year and 12 days between 2000 and 2001, Mr Yousaf has always had a tricky tenure.

He was officially sworn in to the top job in Scottish politics on March 29 2023, after an SNP leadership election sparked when his predecessor, Nicola Sturgeon, who was the longest serving first minister, stepped down.

But almost as soon as he took on the role, he found out that the SNP had been without auditors for months.

Also within days of him taking charge, Ms Sturgeon’s husband, former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, was arrested by police investigating the whereabouts of £600,000 of donations.

Murrell was subsequently rearrested and charged in April 2024 in connection with the alleged embezzlement of funds.

Against this background of party difficulties, Mr Yousaf sought to put his own stamp on government, with his administration focused on key national “missions”, based firmly on the principles of equality, opportunity and community.

But for much of his time in charge he has appeared to be reacting to events, rather than dictating them.

Perhaps ironically, it was his bid to take control, by ending the powersharing deal with the Scottish Greens before his party’s junior partners in office could hold a vote on whether to continue the arrangement, that brought about his downfall.

After he terminated the Bute House Agreement with immediate effect, despite having previously described it as being “worth its weight in gold”, furious Greens accused Mr Yousaf of “political cowardice” and declared they would vote against him in a vote of no confidence.

That vote took place little over 13 months after Mr Yousaf had become Scotland’s sixth first minister.

He was the youngest person to hold the role, and the first from an ethnic minority background.

The son of immigrants, Mr Yousaf has spoken repeatedly about how his family had hoped he would become a doctor or a lawyer, but instead he chose to study politics at Glasgow University, joining the SNP in 2005.

In his early life, he crossed paths with current Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who is two years his senior and also attended the private Hutchesons’ Grammar School on Glasgow’s south side.

He began working in politics in 2009, first as a staffer for Bashir Ahmad, who was the first Muslim MSP, and then for both Alex Salmond and Ms Sturgeon.

Mr Yousaf was himself elected as an MSP in 2011, securing a regional list seat for Glasgow.

After a year on the backbenches, he joined the government in 2012 when Mr Salmond appointed him as external affairs and international development minister.

He later became transport minister under Ms Sturgeon, before joining the Scottish cabinet in 2018 as justice secretary, an appointment that came despite his own brush with the law in 2016 when he was caught driving without insurance.

A reshuffle following the 2021 Scottish election saw him become health secretary, with the appointment coming at time when the NHS was under immense pressure because of the coronavirus pandemic.

When Ms Sturgeon suddenly announced she was quitting as SNP leader and first minister in early 2023, Mr Yousaf was one of three candidates to throw his hat into the ring for the vacancy.

After a bruising internal leadership contest, he narrowly defeated the then finance secretary Kate Forbes for the post.

At the time, he said becoming first minister was the “honour of my life” but it has also undoubtedly been a difficult period for him.

The Scottish Greens have said Humza Yousaf’s resignation as First Minister was the “right” decision.

The party’s co-leader Patrick Harvie said the development was “regrettable” but welcomed the “personal responsibility” Mr Yousaf has taken.

He said: “Humza Yousaf is right to resign. His position was no longer tenable after he broke the bonds of trust with the Scottish Greens and with everyone who wanted a stable, progressive, pro-independence government. It is regrettable that it has ended this way, it didn’t need to. We draw no satisfaction or pleasure from this.

“But the Scottish Greens could no longer have confidence in Humza Yousaf after he chose to unilaterally end the Bute House Agreement. In doing so he let down the large majority of Scottish Green and SNP members who approved the agreement who wanted it to work.

“He chose to end a stable majority government and jeopardised the progressive policy programme that both parties had committed to and were working to deliver.

“It is to his credit that he has taken personal responsibility. Now though is the time to return to some stability.”