Humza Yousaf formally resigned as Scotland’s First Minister on Tuesday.
In a letter to the King, the ex-SNP leader thanked the monarch for the "counsel and the kindness" shown to him and his wife, Nadia El-Nakla.
"It has been my pleasure to serve Your Majesty and the people of Scotland since March 2023," he wrote.
READ MORE: John Swinney: 'I'm ready for what lies ahead'
Mr Yousaf's time as first minister came to an abrupt end after his surprise scrapping of the Bute House Agreement.
The collapse of the powersharing agreement left him vulnerable to two votes of no confidence in the Scottish Parliament.
Mr Yousaf announced his intention to quit before the motions could be debated.
In a personal statement to MSPs, Mr Yousaf said it had been “an honour and privilege” to be first minister.
He said: “Young Humza Yousaf could never have imagined he would be able to lead this country.
“I was six years old when I was first told to go home, and I am afraid since then it has been a regular occurrence – in fact, almost daily if you look at my social media feeds.”
He said that “racial slur” had hurt him most “simply because I have no other home than this one, I never will, I never have”.
Mr Yousaf continued: “My heart will forever belong to Scotland.
“So to have the opportunity to defy the far right, to defy the racist bigots who told me to go home, to be in a position to serve my home, to contribute to public life in my home, and to have the opportunity to lead my home – that has been the most tremendous honour that I didn’t think was reserved for people who looked like me.”
He went on to hail his successor, John Swinney as “one of the most empathetic, kind, compassionate people” had had known.
Mr Swinney later paid tribute to Mr Yousaf, describing him as a "man of unfailing courtesy who served my party but also this parliament and country with distinction".
READ MORE: Sir John Curtice says SNP are 'electoral winner of devolution'
Mr Yousaf also used his speech to make one last front-bench plea for a ceasefire in Gaza.
On Monday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) told people in parts of Rafah in southern Gaza to move ahead of an imminent attack.
There are thought to be 1.4 million Palestinian civilians sheltering in the city, including around 600,000 children.
Mr Yousaf said an Israel invasion would "only result in the slaughter of more innocent civilians in what is likely to be one of the clearest violations of international law to date.
“A clear signal must be sent to the Israeli Government that to defy the international community in this way will come with significant consequence and sanction.
“Everything possible must be done to demand an immediate ceasefire, a release of all the hostages and an end to arms sales to Israel. We must be on the right side of history and that must mean standing with innocent men, women and children.
"To do otherwise would be unforgivable.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel