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SNP government fends off Labour’s bid to force snap election at Holyrood as front-runners succeed Humza Yusuf met for informal talks in an attempt to avoid another watery leadership contest.
Anas Sarwar’s motion of no confidence in Yusuf’s administration – which would have forced all government ministers to resign – was rejected by 70 votes to 58 on Wednesday afternoon after the Greens voted with the SNP.
Last week, the Scottish Greens said they would back another vote of confidence in Youssef himself, proposed by the Scottish Conservatives, in response to Youssef’s decision to unilaterally end their governing partnership.
With the SNP falling short of a majority for Holyrood, it left Yousaf unable to secure enough votes to win and on Monday he announced his intention to stand down as First Minister once a new party leader is elected.
Wednesday’s result, which was met with relieved applause from the SNP benches, came after Sarwar said it was “untenable” for the SNP to “impose another unelected first minister” on the country after the two previous leaders had left “in contradictions and chaos”.
Douglas Ross, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said his party had succeeded in forcing Yusuf out of government and later scoffed at reports that two potential contenders for the SNP leadership, John Sweeney and Kate Forbes, had negotiated a deal as ” shadow knit- up to avoid another brutal and bloody leadership contest’.
A spokesman for Forbes confirmed that an “informal meeting” had taken place between the former leader and the ex-finance secretary on Tuesday, increasing speculation that Sweeney will present himself as a unity candidate who could unite different factions in time for the general election, but offers to Forbes senior role in his administration.
Swinney is expected to make a statement about the leadership race at 10.30am on Thursday.
On Wednesday night, the SNP set the timetable for electing a new leader. Nominations close on Monday at midday and – if there is more than one candidate – voting by party members will begin on May 13 and end on May 27.
In his first remarks to the House of Commons at Holyrood on Monday, Yousaf responded to Sarwar’s motion by telling MSPs he was “extremely proud” of his government’s record.
He said: “We are choosing progressive taxation, we are choosing to launch a 10-year Just Transition Fund to support Scotland’s drive to net zero – where, of course, Labor is choosing to ditch its green energy pledge of £ 28 billion
“When Keir Starmer refused for months to call for an immediate ceasefire, failing even to condemn the collective punishment of the people of Gaza, I and the government I lead chose to be a voice for peace and humanity in the world.”
Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvey praised Yousaf for his “tremendous dignity” when his relatives were trapped in Gaza during the Israeli bombardment last October.
He said: “When global political events directly affected his own family, Humza Yousaf rightly earned enormous respect for speaking out for and in many cases humanizing the people of Gaza, humanizing the victims of collective punishment in a way that no other national leader I think I managed to do.
But in a warning to the next SNP leader, he added: “A minority government must reach out and muster a majority in parliament and for that to happen it will have to remain a progressive government.”
Earlier in the day, in his first interview since his resignation, Yousaf told BBC Scotland that he had “paid the price” for the poor handling of the Bute House deal termination, but still believed that concluding it was “the right thing for the party and the country”.
He admitted that Harvey’s refusal to accept the Cass review as a valid scientific paper had “upset a lot of people” in the SNP, but said it was “not necessarily” a factor in ending the partnership.
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