2024 Scottish government crisis

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2024 Scottish government crisis
Humza Yousaf announcing his intention to resign as SNP leader on 29 April 2024
Date25–29 April 2024
Cause
MotiveTo declare no confidence in Humza Yousaf as First Minister, and no confidence in the Scottish Government[1]
ParticipantsConservative, Labour, Green, Liberal Democrat and Alba MSPs
Outcome

In April 2024, Humza Yousaf, first minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), faced a confidence challenge following his termination of the Bute House Agreement between the SNP and the Scottish Greens, which meant that Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater, co-leaders of the Greens and their only government ministers, were removed from government.[2] This was following changes to landmark climate policy by Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy Màiri McAllan,[3] after which a planned Greens vote on the continuation of the agreement was announced.[4] Facing a motion of confidence in him Yousaf announced his intention to resign as first minister and party leader on 29 April.

Background

Bute House Agreement

Main article: Bute House Agreement
Left to right: Patrick Harvie, Nicola Sturgeon, Lorna Slater

The Scottish electoral system is designed to make single-party government difficult to achieve.[5] The Scottish National Party (SNP) has been in power in Scotland since 2007.[6] The Scottish Parliament election in 2021 resulted in a hung parliament with the SNP winning 64 seats, one short of an overall majority.[7] In August 2021 a power-sharing agreement between the government and the Scottish Greens was created to support the leadership of Nicola Sturgeon and the formation of the Third Sturgeon government. This meant that the first Green Party ministers ever in the UK were to be appointed:[8] Patrick Harvie became Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants' Rights and Lorna Slater became Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity.[9]

The Bute House Agreement was, despite some policy concessions, popular with the SNP membership, with some 95 per cent voting in favour at the time of the agreement.[10] Some policies were changed to gain the Greens' support,[11] such as their proposal to stop North Sea oil drilling,[12] which some SNP figures, such as Kate Forbes, criticised, alongside their plans to phase out the natural gas industry.[13] The SNP MSP Fergus Ewing, who was later suspended from the SNP group in parliament for a week because of his rebellions,[14] blamed the Greens for the government delaying the duelling of the A9 road, the longest road in Scotland.[15] The controversial Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill resulted in the United Kingdom government using section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998 for the first time to block the bill.[16] The Green Party's bottle deposit return scheme was delayed in 2023.[17]

The co-operation deal was defended by MSPs from the SNP and the Greens, including Humza Yousaf, who—mere days before ending the deal—stated that he "really valued the deal" and wished "to keep achieving a lot with the Green Party".[18] The Green MSP Ross Greer spoke of the deal's policy achievements, including "record funding for wildlife and nature", "free bus travel for under-22s", and "the most progressive tax system in the UK".[19] Following Sturgeon's resignation and the subsequent leadership election the Greens decided to stay in government.[20]

Termination

Humza Yousaf's leadership had been under scrutiny following the arrest of Peter Murrell on 18 April 2024, amid the ongoing Operation Branchform.[21][22] On 18 April 2024, Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy Màiri McAllan scrapped climate change targets,[3] causing the Greens to call a vote on whether to continue the power-sharing deal. However, before this vote took place, Yousaf announced the end of the Bute House Agreement on 25 April 2024.[2]

Vote of no confidence and resignation

Figures in the Alba Party
Ash Regan, the party's sole MSP
Alex Salmond, party leader

After the termination of the agreement, the Scottish Conservatives called a vote of no confidence against Yousaf, which the Scottish Greens said they would support.[23][24] Because of the narrow vote margins in the Scottish Parliament, if the vote had taken place, Ash Regan of the Alba Party would have been the sole decider on the vote's result.[25] Alex Salmond, former SNP First Minister and now leader of Alba, called Regan the "most powerful MSP in the Scottish Parliament".[26] Regan, who had left the SNP the year prior, was called "no great loss" by Yousaf at the time of her defection.[27] She sent him her list of demands to secure her support, which included progress on Scottish independence and defending "the rights of women and children".[28]

On 26 April, Yousaf postponed a scheduled speech at the University of Strathclyde on labour strategy in an independent Scotland.[29] The same day he claimed that he had no plan to resign as first minister of Scotland.[30] He claimed the day after that a snap Scottish Parliament election was a possibility.[31] On 28 April, Salmond said that Alba was "prepared to assist" Yousaf in the confidence vote.[32] His demand was a renewed Scottish independence plan.[33] He appeared on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg and said that the SNP should return to the "people's priorities" of education, jobs and industry.[34] Yousaf reportedly ruled out any electoral pact.[35] It was Salmond who firstly appointed Yousaf to government: in 2012, as minister for Europe and International Development in the Second Salmond government.[36] Chair of the Alba Party Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh said that an "electoral pact" is not part of negotiations.[37] Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton ruled out Yousaf's offer of talks.[38]

Late on 28 April, it was speculated that Yousaf planned to step down the next day, fearing that he could not survive the no confidence vote against him: he did, announcing that he would resign as both leader of the SNP and first minister of Scotland once his successor has been chosen.[39] In his resignation speech Yousaf reinforced that he believed the vote of no confidence could have resulted in his favour, however he choose to resign instead as he was "not willing to trade [his] values and principles, or do deals with whomever, simply for retaining power".[40] The day after, officials at Holyrood announced that Labour's motion of no confidence would be voted on by MSPs the next day, which would have required the entire Scottish government to resign if it were to be passed.[41] The vote went ahead the next day, ending in favour of the continuation of the current Scottish government,[42] with 58 MSPs – from Labour, the Conservatives, the Lib Dems, and Alba – voting for the motion and 70 – from the SNP and the Greens – voting against.[43]

References

  1. ^ "Scottish government faces vote of no confidence". BBC News. 30 April 2024. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b McCool, Mary; Williams, Craig (25 April 2024). "SNP's power-sharing deal with the Scottish Greens collapses". BBC News. Archived from the original on 26 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Scottish government scraps climate change targets". BBC News. 18 April 2024. Archived from the original on 26 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  4. ^ Bonar, Megan; Cook, James (25 April 2024). "Scottish Greens to vote on SNP power-sharing deal". BBC News. Archived from the original on 19 April 2024. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  5. ^ McDonald, Andrew (7 May 2021). "Scotland's Nicola Sturgeon plays down majority hopes amid early election results". Politico. Archived from the original on 26 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  6. ^ "SNP win election one seat short of majority". BBC News. 8 May 2021. Archived from the original on 13 February 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  7. ^ PA Media (8 May 2021). "SNP wins election, but just one seat short of overall majority". STV News. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  8. ^ "Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater: Who are the new Green ministers?". BBC News. 30 August 2021. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  9. ^ Media, P. A. (30 August 2021). "Co-leaders of Scottish Greens to become ministers at Holyrood". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  10. ^ "Yousaf defends coalition after MSP attacks Greens deal". BBC News. 3 April 2023. Archived from the original on 27 February 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  11. ^ Daisley, Stephen (25 April 2024). "Humza Yousaf ends SNP pact with Greens". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 25 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  12. ^ "OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY CONDUCTING WAR ON CLIMATE". Scottish Greens. 3 April 2024. Archived from the original on 27 April 2024. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  13. ^ Green, Chris (21 August 2023). "Kate Forbes hits out at Green ministers as she backs use of North Sea oil and gas". iNews. Archived from the original on 26 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  14. ^ "Fergus Ewing loses appeal against SNP suspension". BBC News. 28 February 2024. Archived from the original on 27 April 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  15. ^ "Delayed dualling of A9 is costing lives, says Fergus Ewing". BBC News. 30 May 2023. Archived from the original on 26 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  16. ^ "The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill (Prohibition on Submission for Royal Assent) Order 2023". Legislation.gov.uk. 17 January 2024. Archived from the original on 2 January 2024. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  17. ^ "Why has Scotland's deposit return scheme been delayed?". BBC News. 13 February 2023. Archived from the original on 26 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  18. ^ "SNP to form minority government if Greens scrap power-sharing deal". BBC News. 20 April 2024. Archived from the original on 28 April 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  19. ^ "Yousaf defends coalition after MSP attacks Greens deal". BBC News. 3 April 2023. Archived from the original on 27 February 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  20. ^ "Will the Greens want to stay in government with the SNP?". BBC News. 24 March 2023. Archived from the original on 2 January 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  21. ^ "It's a difficult day for SNP – Yousaf on Murrell arrest". Archived from the original on 26 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  22. ^ Johnson, Simon (19 April 2024). "Nicola Sturgeon still under police investigation as she talks of 'incredibly difficult' situation". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 25 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  23. ^ Williams, Craig (25 April 2024). "Scottish Greens will vote to oust first minister". BBC News. Archived from the original on 26 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  24. ^ Meighan, Craig (25 April 2024). "Humza Yousaf faces no-confidence vote after 'terminating' Bute House Agreement". STV News. Archived from the original on 25 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  25. ^ "Ash Regan: Humza Yousaf's defeated leadership rival could hold the key to his political fate". Sky News. Archived from the original on 25 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  26. ^ "Alex Salmond: Alba's Ash Regan now 'most powerful MSP in Holyrood' over Yousaf vote". The Herald. 25 April 2024. Archived from the original on 25 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  27. ^ Connor, Mark (25 April 2024). "'No great loss': what Humza Yousaf said about Ash Regan ahead of crunch vote". Scottish Daily Express. Archived from the original on 25 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  28. ^ "Ash Regan: I've not spoken to Humza Yousaf in a year". BBC News. Archived from the original on 26 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  29. ^ Phillips, Rachael Burford, Jacob (26 April 2024). "Humza Yousaf insists he will not quit as he faces no confidence motion". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 26 April 2024. Retrieved 27 April 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  30. ^ "Humza Yousaf 'absolutely' not resigning ahead of no confidence vote". The Herald. 26 April 2024. Archived from the original on 26 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  31. ^ "Humza Yousaf: Scotland's first minister claims Holyrood election could be called – as vote of no confidence looms". Sky News. Archived from the original on 27 April 2024. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  32. ^ "Alex Salmond 'prepared to assist' Humza Yousaf in no confidence vote". Sky News. Archived from the original on 28 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  33. ^ "Alex Salmond sets out Alba demands ahead of Humza Yousaf talks". BBC News. 28 April 2024. Archived from the original on 28 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  34. ^ "Salmond sets out terms for Alba support of Yousaf". BBC News. Archived from the original on 28 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  35. ^ "Humza Yousaf rules out pact with Alex Salmond's Alba party". BBC News. 27 April 2024. Archived from the original on 28 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  36. ^ "Humza Yousaf: Who is Scotland's under-threat first minister?". BBC News. 26 April 2024. Archived from the original on 27 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  37. ^ Humza Yousaf pact with Alex Salmond's Alba party 'is not on the table' | Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh. Times Radio. 28 April 2024. Archived from the original on 28 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024 – via YouTube.
  38. ^ "Yousaf set to 'face consequences' as SNP politicians warn against deal with Salmond". The Herald. 28 April 2024. Archived from the original on 28 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  39. ^ "Humza Yousaf to quit as Scotland's first minister". BBC News. 29 April 2024. Archived from the original on 29 April 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  40. ^ "Humza Yousaf quits as Scotland's first minister". The Financial Times. 29 April 2024. Archived from the original on 29 April 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  41. ^ Meighan, Craig (30 April 2024). "Labour no-confidence vote against Scottish Government to go ahead". STV News. STV. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  42. ^ Reed, Alastair (1 May 2024). "Scottish Government Wins Confidence Vote as SNP Hunts For Leader". Bloomberg UK. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  43. ^ Mitchell, Jenness (1 May 2024). "Scottish government survives vote of no confidence at Holyrood". Sky News. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
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