Scotland’s First Minister, Hamza Yousaf, said he will resign as First Minister and from the leadership of the Scottish National Party (SNP) following days of political drama that unfolded after he ended the ‘Bute House’ power-sharing agreement with the Scottish Greens. Mr Yousaf said he would continue in the role of First Minister until a replacement was found.
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Policy differences between the Greens and the SNP reached breaking point with the SNP backtracking on climate-related commitments earlier in April. Mr Yousaf decided to be the first to pull the plug on the relationship on April 25, as the Greens proposed an internal party vote on whether to stay in the power-sharing agreement. The outgoing First Minister had hoped to have a more informal set up with the Greens, built on issue-based support while leading a minority government (the SNP has 63 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament). However, the Greens did not appear ready to participate in this watered-down set up.
“I clearly underestimated the level of hearts and upset that caused,” Mr Yousaf said, as he announced his resignation on Monday, from Bute House, his official residence in Edinburgh.
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Within hours of the drama unfolding last week, unionist parties (the SNP is pro-Scottish independence) mounted an attack on Mr Yousaf and the SNP. The Scottish Conservatives tabled a no-confidence motion against Mr Yousaf and Scottish Labour tabled a motion against the SNP government. On Monday, Mr Yousaf said that while it was “absolutely possible” to have faced this week’s motions, he did not want to make deals that would compromise his values.
Mr Yousaf, 39, a first generation Briton and child of Pakistani immigrants said he could not imagine , as a child, that someone who looked like him could be First Minister.
“But we now live in a UK that has a British Hindu Prime Minister, a Muslim Mayor of London at Black Welsh First Minister,: he said, adding that this was evidence that multiculturalism in the U.K. had not failed.
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He talked about a needing a fairer tax system and the descent into “a toxic culture war”.
“Each and every one of us must resist the temptation of populism at the expense of minorities, particularly in a general election year,” he said. He made references to Gaza, where some of his wife’s relatives were stranded, following the hostilities between Israel and Hamas.
Scottish independence felt “frustratingly close” Mr Yousaf said.
Co-leader of the Greens, Patrick Harvie said Mr Yousaf was “right to resign” and that his party was willing to work with anyone who wanted a “stable, progressive and pro-independence” government.
The SNP has 28 days to choose a new leader, failing which Scotland will have to go to the polls.