Tearful Humza Yousaf QUITS admitting he cannot survive Holyrood confidence vote and 'underestimated' backlash from axing coalition with Greens - as SNP plunges deeper into chaos

Humza Yousaf dramatically discontinue contiguous capping an bonzer meltdown triggered by sacking his Green conjugation partners.

The Scottish First Minister tearfully announced helium is resigning aft failing to drum up capable enactment to past a assurance vote.

Watched by his woman Nadia successful Edinburgh, Mr Yousaf conceded helium had 'underestimated' the backlash from ditching the Bute House deal. He added: 'I'm not consenting to commercialized my values... simply for retaining power.'

He said the authorities needed to beryllium led by idiosyncratic who could bring MSPs together, though helium would enactment connected arsenic interim person to guarantee continuity. 

Choking up arsenic helium paid tribute to his family's support, Mr Yousaf said: 'I americium successful implicit indebtedness to my fantastic wife, my beauteous children and my wider household for putting up with maine implicit the years. I'm acrophobic you volition beryllium seeing a batch much of maine from now.

'You are genuinely everything to me.'

Mr Yousaf spent the play frantically wooing MSPs, but concluded determination was nary mode of clinging on. 

Allies insisted the SNP person had not been consenting to 'do a woody with the devil' by agreeing presumption with Alex Salmond. Ash Regan, the sole MSP for his Alba Party, and who perchance held the equilibrium astatine Holyrood, said it was 'bizarre' helium would not compromise.

Defeat would person risked sparking a drawback predetermination successful Scotland, with the separatists fearing large losses to Labour. 

It is simply a shocking autumn from grace for Mr Yousaf, who took implicit from Nicola Sturgeon hardly a twelvemonth ago.

After helium summarily ditched the Greens from the Bute House conjugation woody - and publically humiliated them by making them bash a locomotion of shame successful presumption of cameras - they pledged to backmost a nary assurance question tabled by the Tories.

It was expected spell to a ballot aboriginal this week. 

Attention present turns to who volition win Mr Yousaf, with signs erstwhile lawman First Minister John Swinney could instrumentality implicit arsenic a caretaker. He admitted earlier it would beryllium a 'difficult' day.

Ex-leadership contender Kate Forbes and curate Jenny Gilruth person besides been touted.   

Mr Yousaf said: 'Unfortunately successful ending the Bute House Agreement successful the substance I did I intelligibly underestimate the level of wounded and upset that caused Green colleagues.

'For a number authorities to beryllium capable to govern efficaciously spot erstwhile moving with the absorption is intelligibly fundamental.'

He added a way done the no-confidence ballot was 'absolutely possible'.

But helium added: 'I americium not consenting to commercialized successful my values oregon principles oregon bash deals with whomever simply for retaining power.'

Mr Yousaf went on: 'After spending the play reflecting connected what is champion for my party, for the authorities and for the state I lead, I've concluded that repairing our narration crossed the governmental disagreement tin lone beryllium done with idiosyncratic other astatine the helm.

'I person truthful informed the SNP's nationalist caput of my volition to basal down arsenic enactment leader.'

He said the SNP's imagination of independency seemed 'frustratingly close' - adjacent though astir observers respect the origin arsenic having faltered. 

In a agelong valedictory statement, aft which helium ignored questions from the media, Mr Yousaf said: 'If lone each idiosyncratic successful Scotland could beryllium afforded the accidental of being First Minister for conscionable 1 day.' 

Mr Swinney is said to person been approached by elder enactment figures to go an interim First Minister.

Whoever is chosen to regenerate Mr Yousaf volition beryllium the seventh idiosyncratic to clasp the station since the Scottish Parliament was established successful 1999 – arsenic good arsenic being the 2nd idiosyncratic successful conscionable implicit a twelvemonth to person the apical job. 

Green co-leader Patrick Harvie suggested his enactment could enactment with different SNP leader, welcoming the 'personal responsibility' Mr Yousaf had taken.

He said: 'Humza Yousaf is close to resign. His presumption was nary longer tenable aft helium broke the bonds of spot with the Scottish Greens and with everyone who wanted a stable, progressive, pro-independence government. It is regrettable that it has ended this way, it didn't request to. We gully nary restitution oregon pleasance from this.

'But the Scottish Greens could nary longer person assurance successful Humza Yousaf aft helium chose to unilaterally extremity the Bute House Agreement. In doing truthful helium fto down the ample bulk of Scottish Green and SNP members who approved the statement who wanted it to work.

'He chose to extremity a unchangeable bulk authorities and jeopardised the progressive argumentation programme that some parties had committed to and were moving to deliver.

'It is to his recognition that helium has taken idiosyncratic responsibility. Now though is the clip to instrumentality to immoderate stability.'

But Scottish Labour person Anas Sarwar said determination indispensable beryllium a Holyrood election. 

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said Mr Yousaf had to resign aft 'lurching from situation to crisis'.

'Humza Yousaf's enactment has lurched from situation to situation from the precise start, and helium could not bid the assurance of the Scottish Parliament,' the Tory curate said.

'Scotland present needs a stable, functioning Scottish Government focused connected the issues that substance astir to radical – fixing nationalist services and increasing the economy.'

Downing Street said the UK authorities would volition enactment with Mr Yousaf's successor to present connected 'the existent issues that substance to people'. 

Pamela Nash, main enforcement of Scotland successful Union, said: 'Like his predecessors, helium spent acold excessively overmuch clip obsessing astir the break-up of the UK portion ignoring the existent priorities of radical successful Scotland, who are surviving with the failures of 17 years of the SNP successful government.' 

Mr Yousaf, who took implicit from Ms Sturgeon successful March 2023, was facing 2 votes of nary confidence, 1 successful him personally from the Tories and different successful his authorities from Labour.

Excluding the presiding serviceman determination are 128 MSPs successful total, but the SNP lone has 63 votes portion the different absorption parties person 65.

Over the play Mr Yousaf explored options to person 1 of the absorption enactment MSPs to ballot to prevention his government.   

If helium managed to get to 64 votes and necktie the vote, the presiding serviceman would backmost the presumption quo, helium would person been capable to clasp on.

The astir apt campaigner helium faced the accidental of converting was Ash Regan, the sole MSP successful Alex Salmond's Alba Party.

Mr Yousaf antecedently described her departure from the SNP successful October past twelvemonth arsenic 'no large loss'. 

Ms Regan, a erstwhile SNP enactment rival to Mr Yousaf, wrote to him with a database of priorities implicit the weekend, including 'defending the rights of women and children'. That is thought to mean accepting the results of the Cass review, which criticised sex therapies, successful full.

The brace went head-to-head during the SNP enactment campaign, wherever she called for much utmost independency tactics and expressed her implicit absorption to some transgender ideology and the Greens successful government. 

Her stance connected sex reforms besides led her to discontinue the furniture during the voting signifier successful 1 of the archetypal displays of discontent wrong the SNP connected the trans issue. 

JK Rowling adjacent waded into the row, saying it is 'karma' that the First Minister is present reliant connected Ms Regan, who defected to Alba successful protestation astatine the SNP's sex ID stance. 

Ms Regan was besides pushing for a committedness to put successful the Grangemouth lipid refinery, and unilateral moves towards an independency referendum.

Speaking connected Sky News' Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, her brag Mr Salmond effectively laid retired his demands, saying a 'top line' of immoderate treatment with Mr Yousaf would beryllium the thought of reviving the Scotland United strategy – which would spot a azygous pro-independence campaigner basal successful each Scottish constituency.

But those demands look to person been excessively overmuch of a outgo for Mr Yousaf to bear.

A spokesperson for Mr Yousaf dismissed the idea, saying: 'This is fantasy. There is nary anticipation of the First Minister agreeing immoderate woody similar this with Alex Salmond.' 

Talks with the Greens look to person travel to nothing, contempt an progressively hopeless Mr Yousaf holding retired an olive subdivision and saying helium had not 'intended to marque them arsenic aggravated arsenic they are'.

Green co-leader Patrick Harvie said this morning: 'I don't deliberation Humza Yousaf immoderate much is successful a presumption to beryllium capable to lead.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I don't deliberation determination is thing that Humza Yousaf volition beryllium capable to accidental to reconstruct the spot helium has broken...

'Everybody understands however profoundly regrettable and unnecessary this full concern was.'

If Mr Yousaf was to resign immediately, then the Scottish Parliament would person 28 days to elite a archetypal curate by a elemental majority.

John Swinney, Sturgeon's erstwhile lawman archetypal minister, is expected to beryllium appointed to dependable the vessel portion a enactment contention takes spot successful the SNP.

Other imaginable candidates include Kate Forbes who came 2nd to Mr Yousaf successful the past SNP enactment predetermination with 48 per cent of the vote. 

But her socially blimpish views connected transgender ideology, cheery matrimony and termination would besides spot her rejected by the Greens. 

Tensions had been rising betwixt the SNP and Greens implicit trans and Net Zero policies, but Mr Yousaf's determination to scrap the alleged Bute House statement was inactive a bombshell. 

The Bute House Agreement gave the SNP-led authorities a bulk astatine Holyrood but it came nether strain successful caller days aft the Greens said they would enactment the aboriginal of the woody to a ballot by their members.

Some successful the Greens were unhappy astatine the Scottish Government's caller dropping of 2030 clime targets and the determination to intermission the medicine of caller puberty blockers astatine Scotland's lone sex clinic.

Mr Yousaf rubbed brackish successful the coiled by making his newly-sacked ex-colleagues bash a locomotion of shame successful afloat presumption of cameras. 

In the lead-up to his determination to reportedly quit, Mr Yousaf had been desperately trying to unafraid his endurance with an other vote.

It is understood that letters were sent to Alba Party, Scottish Conservatives, Scottish Labour and the Scottish Greens implicit the weekend. 

However absorption parties appeared to beryllium unmoved by Mr Yousaf's impassioned plea for support, with the dumped Greens, the Tories, Labour and Lib Dems yet to corroborate if they volition conscionable with the SNP leader. 

On Saturday night, Scottish Tory person Douglas Ross, who has written backmost to Mr Yousaf but not said if helium volition judge his invitation to Bute House, said: 'This is simply a humiliating and embarrassing letter, successful which Humza Yousaf is begging to beryllium allowed to support his job. 

Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, replied that Mr Yousaf was 'out of time'.

While Scottish Liberal Democrat person Alex Cole-Hamilton said the archetypal curate had 'run retired of road'.