Yousaf quits as Scottish First Minister after 13 months in charge

Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf has resigned as leader of the Scottish National Party and said he had ordered a contest be held to select a replacement.

"I've concluded that repairing our relationship across the political divide can only be done with someone else at the helm," Yousaf said at a news conference in Edinburgh.

"I have therefore informed the SNP's national secretary of my intention to stand down as party leader and ask that she commences a leadership contest for my replacement as soon as possible."

He said he would continue as first minister until a successor has been elected.

Yousaf always faced an uphill battle to revive his beleaguered Scottish National Party's fortunes and its quest for independence but few thought he would last little more than a year as Scotland's leader.

The 39-year-old quit before facing probably terminal no-confidence votes in both his leadership and government.

It continues a turbulent period for the SNP following the long and largely successful tenure of Yousaf's predecessor and close ally Nicola Sturgeon, whose own resignation in March 2023 handed him a poisoned chalice.

The first Muslim head of a major UK political party, and Scotland's youngest ever elected leader, was deprived of a political honeymoon by an SNP funding scandal and a challenging domestic picture.

The funding scandal saw police arrest and interview Sturgeon last year and recently charge her husband Peter Murrell, a former SNP chief executive, with embezzling party funds.

However, Yousaf's downfall was ultimately prompted by his ill-judged decision last week to end power sharing with the Scotland's Green Party, amid policy disagreements over climate and other areas. 

The move dramatically backfired after Green MSPs (members of the Scottish parliament) joined opposition parties in moving to oust him, leaving Yousaf with no choice but to resign.

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Glasgow-born Yousaf, whose paternal grandparents and father emigrated to Scotland from Pakistan in the 1960s, had been hailed as a polished communicator who could unite the increasingly fractured SNP.

He took charge in March 2023, after winning an internal SNP leadership battle, as support flagged for the SNP's central policy - independence for Scotland from the rest of the United Kingdom. 

Despite UK government opposition to another referendum a decade after an independence vote in 2014, he vowed on taking office to deliver it in this generation.

But independence has since taken a backseat during Yousaf's rocky 13-month tenure, and party scandals and policy squabbles have dominated. 

With the issue increasingly receding from day-to-day politics, his SNP now looks vulnerable to the main opposition Labour party in a UK general election set for later this year. 

It could also lose a possible election for the Scottish parliament, leaving Yousaf with an unenviable legacy.

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