The Scottish Green MSPs have stated that they will support a vote of no-confidence in First Minister Humza Yousaf. This announcement by the Greens has put the future of Yousaf in question as the vote is expected to take place next week, perhaps as early as Thursday. The decision means that Yousaf could struggle to win the vote, which has been tabled by Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross.
If every Conservative, Labour, and Liberal Democrat MSP joins the Greens in voting against Yousaf, it would give them 64 votes to the SNP’s 63. This leaves the decision in the hands of former SNP MSP Ash Regan, who is now an Alba Party MSP, who could potentially decide Yousaf’s fate.
Ms Regan now holds a position as the most powerful MSP in the Scottish Parliament, according to Scotland’s former First Minister and the leader of the Alba Party, Alex Salmond. Salmond declared that Yousaf had annoyed every opposition party in Holyrood. Ms Regan has written to Yousaf to state her concerns about the Scottish government’s priorities and to see if there are areas her party and the SNP could work on together.
In an earlier statement, Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater stated that they entered an agreement with Yousaf on the basis that they would work together to deliver a “progressive policy programme”. However, she said that Yousaf’s decision to end it came with no reassurance that the SNP would continue with those objectives. This decision now threatens to abruptly put an end to the pro-independence majority government that the public voted for, and which members of both parties supported, Slater said.
If the no-confidence vote is passed, Yousaf could be removed from his position as the first minister of Scotland. As of now, the weight of the vote lies in the hands of Ms Regan, who holds the power to decide on the future of Yousaf
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