Humza Yousaf throws the baton down and runs for the hills

You wake up, you break up. And so it came to pass for Humza Yousaf as he decided to lay down the baton of First Minister and run for the hills.  

Just over a year into the job, having succeeded Nicola Sturgeon in March last year, Mr Yousaf has headed for the exit door having failed to win friends and influence people ahead of a crucial vote of no confidence.  

The outgoing SNP leader appeared to be the loneliest man in the world as he arrived at Bute House at 11am this morning, ahead of a scheduled noontime resignation speech.  

By some accounts he only made the final decision to quit at 9am, deliberating over his future with his breakfast cup of tea, before concluding enough was enough.  

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He probably wasn’t wondering how all this came to pass. Just over a week ago, he was First Minister of Scotland – in charge of a troublesome, but not rebellious, party and certain of a majority at the Scottish Parliament.  

Then came his decision – a ‘courageous’ one, in the language of Yes, Prime Minister – to ditch the Bute House Agreement and jettison the Scottish Greens from government.  

A man who likes to get his resignation decisions in early, Mr Yousaf broke the news to a bewildered Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater at 8am on Thursday.

What he wasn’t expecting, for reasons few can fathom as the reaction seemed obvious with hindsight, was that this bit of tact would go down as well as a sausage roll buffet at a vegan cookout.

As the deal came crashing down, Greens co-leader Lorna Slater called the decision an act of “political cowardice” and accused Humza Yousaf of “selling out future generations” to appease the most “reactionary forces in the country.”

These reactionary forces are the members of Mr Yousaf’s own party, who were said to be on maneuvers to get him to ditch the political pact.

Ms Slater ended her diatribe – made before the ink was dry on her P45 – by saying the First Minister could “no longer be trusted”. If trust is the currency on which coalitions run, Mr Yousaf suddenly found himself bankrupt. 

Soon he would be raking in the bargain bin, but first he had to get over his bemusement at the calamity which had befallen him at his own hand.

“I don’t regret the ending of the Bute House Agreement but I’ve heard their upset, I’ve heard their anger. I can honestly say that was not the intention,” he said at the weekend, somehow unaware that depriving ministers of their briefs, perks and seats at the top table can have adverse consequences.  

Now facing a vote of no confidence called by the Scottish Conservatives – which the Greens made sure everyone knew they would back to the hilt – Mr Yousaf was out of friends and out of luck.

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He tried to turn on the charm with the other parties, reaching out with a love letter that appealed for calm, common ground and collegiality from the other parties at Holyrood.  

Mr Yousaf might as well have passed around the proverbial bag of cold sick for all the good his overtures did. 

“A humiliating and embarrassing letter, in which Humza Yousaf is begging to be allowed to keep his job,” responded Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross. 

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton also rejected the offer of talks, telling Mr Yousaf: “Your actions this past week have eroded entirely any remaining trust that you enjoyed across the chamber. 

“They suggest that rather than being motivated by the national interest, you are presently motivated only by your own self-interest and by political survival.” 

Scottish Labour simply said that Humza Yousaf had lost the confidence of Parliament and the public, and that there was “nothing” he could do to change anyone’s mind about that.  

That left one gambit – an agreement with Ash Regan, the SNP defector who switched to Alba after falling out with Mr Yousaf’s administration.  

Perhaps he tried to convince Ms Regan that his reply of “no great loss” upon hearing of her defection was a misquote, and that he really said “No! Great loss!” – but whatever the outcome of his approach, the attempt came to nothing.  

It was reported that Alba leader Alex Salmond hoped for an ‘independence pact’ with the SNP in exchange for his party’s support which could see only one nationalist candidate stand for certain seats.  

Mr Salmond said a “top line” of any discussion around Regan’s support could be the idea of reviving the Scotland United strategy – which would see a single pro-independence candidate stand in each Scottish constituency.  

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Clearly this was a line Mr Yousaf was unwilling to toe, and he threw in the towel rather than trade his “values and principles or do deals with whomever simply for retaining power”. 

And thus began his lonesome trudge to the podium of resignation. He didn’t thank any of his party colleagues personally, instead referring to the wider “SNP family”.  

But he did thank his wife and children, growing emotional as he did so. Hopefully tears of happiness, amid a dawning realisation he’ll be getting to spend a lot more time with them in future.