Humza Yousaf quits: what next for devolution?

Humza Yousaf has resigned as Scotland's first minister after his decision to scrap the SNP's coalition deal with the Scottish Greens caused his government to collapse. 

Delivering a statement in Edinburgh, Yousaf said he will continue in the role until his successor as leader of the SNP has been chosen.

"While a route through this week's motion of no confidence was absolutely possible, I am not willing to trade my values and principles or do deals with whomever simply for retaining power," he said. "Therefore, after spending the weekend reflecting on what is best for my party, for the government and for the country I lead I have concluded that repairing our relationship across the political divide can only be done with someone else at the helm."

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The SNP leader was facing a vote of no confidence that he was not expected to survive. "I clearly underestimated the level of hurt and upset I caused Green colleagues," said Yousaf. "For a minority government to be able to govern effectively and efficiently, trust in working with the opposition is clearly fundamental."

Speculation had been "intensifying" within the SNP in recent days over Yousaf's future as he faced two confidence votes – one non-binding vote from the Tories on him personally, and another vote brought by Scottish Labour against the entire government at Holyrood, said The Sunday Times. 

What did the commentators say?

Yousaf's resignation is not just the end for him and the beginning of the end of 17 years of SNP rule in Scotland, but also for "any hopes of Scottish independence happening in the lifetime of most SNP members", said Iain Macwhirter in The Spectator. 

Yousaf "might even take devolution with him". The Scottish public are "at their wits' end with the behaviour of the politicians – all of them – who have occupied the Scottish parliament like student activists taking over the university court".

Yousaf was "always a hopeless case politically", said Macwhirter. Selected as the "continuity candidate" at "precisely the moment when the SNP needed discontinuity from the 'woke' progressive authoritarianism that had taken root under Nicola Sturgeon", Yousaf made several contributions himself to the SNP's "inventory of misfortune". This included his promotion of the Hate Crime Act, which "damaged Scotland's image abroad as a country that values freedom of speech and lively debate". 

But his "biggest failures" were in "health, education and the economy". The reality is that "one in seven Scots is on a hospital waiting list; Scottish education is in steep decline" and there are increased taxes on every Scot earning over £28,000.

We have had almost a quarter of a century of Holyrood, which opened on 12 May 1999 "in a paroxysm of national optimism", said Andrew Marr in The Times. Donald Dewar, a key figure in the struggle for a Scottish parliament, opened Holyrood quoting four words engraved on the new parliamentary mace: "Wisdom. Justice. Compassion. Integrity."

But there has been "precious little integrity in the brutal, squalid conflict between Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond", her predecessor as first minister, nor in the "jaw-dropping police investigations into corruption and theft, leading to the recent re-arrest of her husband, Peter Murrell, on an embezzlement charge", said Marr. 

But while it may be tempting to ask whether the "entire devolutionary experiment" has "failed", no one would ever argue that Westminster has failed and should be replaced "because of the pratfalls there in recent years", said Marr. "Obliterating democratic institutions isn't a corrective to human frailty."

What next?

For the SNP, this is a "second shock leadership crisis in less than 18 months, after 20 years of stability and seamless transitions", said The Guardian.

Yousaf has said that he will stay in place until a new party leader can be found, as happened after Sturgeon announced her intention to resign last February. 

The SNP leader said he had asked the party's national secretary to start a leadership election "as soon as possible", remaining in post until a successor is elected to ensure a "smooth and orderly transition".

Labour insiders in Westminster hope the "bitter split" between the SNP and the Greens means that more Scottish parliamentary seats are in play for Keir Starmer as a general election looms, said The Observer. 

They reportedly believe that the split could "dent any prospect" of the Greens helping the SNP by not running a candidate in some seats, effectively suppressing the SNP vote and helping Labour win more seats in the forthcoming election.

Anas Sarwar, leader of the Scottish Labour Party, has previously pledged to "reset devolution and take it back to its founding principles". 

Speaking at his party's conference in Glasgow in February, he said the SNP had "failed to make devolution work for the people of Scotland". Devolution, he said, was about "two governments working together when in our national interest to actually deliver for Scotland".