Scotland's Humza Yousaf quitting as first minister: reports

• Humza Yousaf to face vote of no-confidence later this week.
• Talks were planned between SNP and Alba party this week.
• Yousaf had withdrawn from coalition govt to runminority govt.
  

Scotland's Humza Yousaf is considering quitting as the country's first minister as early as today instead of facing the no-confidence vote against him, Sky News reported Monday.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) leader, who is set to face a vote of no-confidence later this week, may "call it quits", said a senior source privy to the matter.

Yousaf, 39, who has been serving as Scotland's first minister since March 2023, is facingtwo no-confidence votesat Holyrood after he decided to withdraw from a coalition agreement and try to run a minority government.

Yousaf sacked theScottish Greens who have now joined the opposition and will vote to oust him from government.

Last week, Yousaf said he intended to fight the vote of no confidence called by the political opponents.

"I'm quite confident, very confident in fact, that I'll be able to win that vote of no confidence," he told Sky News on Friday.

Talks were planned between the SNP and Alba party, which is led byrival Alex Salmond. The party's onlyMember of the Scottish Parliament, Ash Regan — who defected from theSNP last October — was set to cast the deciding vote.

They were scheduled to meet this week with Regan putting forward the demandsas her price of agreement, according to Sky News.

However, some of SNP's senior leaders said that this would harm the nationalist cause.

MPNeale Hanvey, who isAlba Party's Westminster leader, told Sky News that Yousaf's "hand is being forced from within the SNP".

"It seems that the internal manoeuvrings within the SNP have made it impossible for the First Minister to continue," he said.

"I don't think he would be even considering resigning if he had the support of his parliamentary group and I think reading between the lines, that's not something that he can depend on now and that's possibly why he's been forced to seriously consider resigning."

Meanwhile,Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stridetold Sky News: "It does seem an extraordinary mess that he's managed to get him and the SNP into. That they are now potentially going to be beholden to Alba.

"If you look at the SNP's record, their obsession with independence, I'm afraid, has led to very poor outcomes when it comes to health, when it comes to education and a number of other areas."