Scotland’s Leader Humza Yousaf Resigns

Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf resigned on Monday ahead of a vote of no confidence on Wednesday that appeared he would lose.

His resignation comes little more than a year after he took up the post, becoming the first non-white and first Muslim leader of Scotland.

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“I cannot tell you what an honour it is being the first minister of the country I love, the country I’m raising my family in and the only country I will ever call home,” Yousaf said from Bute House, the official residence of the First Minister.

The 39-year-old leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) was facing votes of no confidence after ending the SNP’s power sharing agreement with the Scottish Greens last Thursday.

Scotland’s coalition government collapsed following a bitter row over the Scottish government’s decision to abandon a major carbon emissions target. The Bute House Agreement saw the Scottish Greens brought into government for the first time in 2021.

Yousaf attracted growing criticism in Scotland and from politicians across the U.K. over his decision. “I think he showed very poor judgment to suddenly collapse a pro-independence majority government when we’d worked together really well for two and a half years, we’d achieved some great things,” Scottish Green Party co-leader Lorna Slater told Sky News.

Yousaf replaced Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister last March in a historic win. “I cannot tell you what an honour it is being the first minister of the country I love, the country I’m raising my family in and the only country I will ever call home,” Yousaf said. “People that looked like me were not in positions of political influence.”

The Scottish parliament will now have 28 days to find Yousaf’s successor through a majority vote among members of the Scottish Parliament. In the event that a majority is not reached, an election will be called.

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