Scotland leader Yousaf quits after his power play backfires

Humza Yousaf resigned as Scotland’s first minister and Scottish National Party leader after just over a year in office, paying the price for a gamble that backfired with ramifications for U.K. politics in an election year.

“Repairing our relationship across the political divide can only be done with someone else at the helm,” Yousaf, who replaced long-time leader Nicola Sturgeon in March 2023, told reporters at his official residence in Edinburgh on Monday. He said he would stay on in the role until his successor is selected.

His decision last week to pull the SNP out of its power-sharing agreement with the Scottish Greens triggered days of political chaos that left the 39-year-old clinging to his position. Two opposition-led votes loomed — one on his position as first minister and one on the government as a whole — that would likely have forced him from office if they were put to a ballot of lawmakers.

“It’s the classic situation of someone who’s weak, trying to look strong, and then just confirming their weakness,” said Steven Fielding, Emeritus Professor at the University of Nottingham.

So Yousaf jumped before he was pushed. But a move designed to give the SNP a chance to rebuild under a new first minister could yet trigger snap elections for the first time since the Edinburgh parliament was re-established in 1999. The SNP now has 28 days to agree on a new leader and try to get another party — likely the Greens — to give it enough lawmakers to win a parliamentary vote.

It’s a remarkable turnaround for the SNP, which had depicted itself as a beacon of stable leadership within the U.K. during the chaos of Brexit and the pandemic. Now, the party is heading into a U.K. election campaign rudderless and mired in a scandal over its finances.

The party is the third-largest in the U.K. and by far the biggest in Scotland, even though it is short of an overall majority in the Edinburgh legislature. In an at times emotional appearance, Yousaf urged the opposition parties to cooperate on choosing a new first minister and not to “oppose for opposition’s sake.”

“The only people who suffer as a result of such an impasse are the very public that we seek to serve,” he said.

Though Yousaf did not name his preferred successor as either SNP leader or first minister, some candidates seen as being likely front-runners include:

•Kate Forbes, 34, former finance secretary

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