Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf Resigns

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Facts

• Humza Yousaf announced his resignation as Scotland's First Minister on Monday afternoon, having ended the Scottish National Party's (SNP) coalition agreement with the Green Party last week.¹
• Yousaf said that while he believed his decision to end the Bute House Agreement with the Greens was the 'right decision for the country,' he 'underestimated the level of hurt' caused during attempts to agree to a 'less formal arrangement' while acting in the minority government.²
• Yousaf continued that he believed that 'repairing our relationships across the political divide' could only be achieved 'with someone else at the helm.' The First Minister will remain in the role until a successor is appointed.³
• Following the end of their coalition agreement, Green Party co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater confirmed that they would support a vote of no confidence against the devolved SNP Government alongside Scottish Conservatives, Labour, and the Liberal Democrats.⁴
• The three-year SNP-Green coalition broke down following the announcement that Scotland would no longer aim to meet its 2030 target of reducing carbon emissions by 75%.⁵
• The news also comes after Peter Murrell, former chief executive of the SNP for over two decades and husband of Humza Yousaf's predecessor Nicola Sturgeon, was charged by Scottish Police earlier this month in connection to the alleged embezzlement of £660K ($821K) in party funds.⁶

Sources: ¹BBC News, ²Scottish National Party, ³The National, ⁴Sky News, ⁵POLITICO and ⁶Verity.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by STV News. While Yousaf's political career has taken a blow, his story is one of success. Although unfortunately defined by the chaos and scandals of the post-Sturgeon era, by becoming Scotland's youngest-ever first minister and also its first Asian and Muslim appointee, Yousaf's rise to the top will be remembered.
• Narrative B, as provided by The Telegraph. Despite Yousaf's emotional sendoff, there is no doubt that the fall of the first minister's career was self-induced. Having led his party into a political crisis, Yousaf's tenure at the top of Scottish politics never felt quite right and there is a deep sense of irony that the SNP's destruction will come at the hands of Alex Salmond.

Predictions