Scottish Prime Minister Humza Yousaf has resigned after just one year in office

The Prime Minister of Scotland, Humza Yousaf, resigned on Monday after he failed to get enough support to survive some censure motions on which a vote was to be held this week, reports the Reuters agency, quoted by Agerpres.

His resignation opens the way for the Labor Party, which is in opposition in Great Britain, to regain ground in its former Scottish regions in the national elections that will take place at the end of this year, comments Reuters.

Yousaf resigned as head of the pro-independence Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) after a week of chaos caused by the breakdown of the coalition agreement with the Scottish Greens. He declared that he had ordered a contest to choose his replacement and that he would continue to hold the position of prime minister until a successor was chosen.

Announcing his resignation on Monday at a press conference at Bute House (the official residence of the Scottish Prime Minister) in Edinburgh, he said:

“After spending the weekend reflecting on what is best for my party, the government and the country I lead, I have come to the conclusion that repairing our relationship across the political divide can only be done with someone else at the helm”‘.

Humza Yousaf has become Scotland’s first minister after another unexpected resignation

Humza Yousaf, 39, was elected SNP leader in March 2023 following the surprise resignation of former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon after nine years in power. The first Muslim leader of a major political party in the United Kingdom, he embodied continuity with his predecessor and continued to lead the fight for Scottish independence despite the SNP’s declining popularity.

His departure comes four days after he ended the coalition government between the Scottish Nationalist Party and the Greens over disagreements over the nation’s environmental policy. The Greens had also opposed the government’s recent decision to suspend the prescription of hormone blockers to young transsexuals.

Without its Green allies, the SNP, although dominant in Holyrood (Scottish Parliament), with 63 seats out of 129, found itself in the minority and looking for new partners, but without success. The Conservative and Labor opposition have each tabled a no-confidence motion, one targeting Humza Yousaf personally and the other against his government as a whole.

Votes were expected this week and the Scottish Greens have indicated they will vote against the prime minister, leaving Humza Yousaf with little hope of saving his job. Parliament now has 28 days to find a new prime minister.

The SNP is losing popular support after 17 years at the helm of the Scottish government. Earlier this month, polling firm YouGov reported that, for the first time in a decade, the Labor Party had overtaken the SNP in voting intentions for the Westminster election.

Within the British political system, the Scottish government is responsible for many areas, such as education, health, justice and the environment, while the British government, based in London, retains competences in matters of defense and foreign policy, writes AFP.