On the 29th of April 2024, Humza Yousaf a stalwart supporter of pragmatic politics. And a seasoned politician announced that he would be resigning as the head of the pro-independence SNP. He stated that he would continue on until the search for a successor is done and a new head is appointed. The time duration given to the SNP is 28 days to appoint another head of the party until when Yousaf will continue.
The last week prior to the decision of Humza Yousaf resignation was chaotic. As the tensions with the Greens increased on the topic of reduction of carbon emission which seemed unachievable. The SNP had started to lose it’s popularity after being the majority-holding party for the last 17 years. The balance between the conservatives who wanted Yousaf to refocus on the economy and the progressives. Who wanted gender reforms was extremely delicate which Humza failed to maintain. This along with increasing political competition led to the decline of SNP.
Was this a backlash of Humza’s actions?
Over the course of his political career, Yousaf has been a part of multiple controversies and has faced severe backlash for several of his actions. He faced controversies on his hate crime laws that were initiated by him when he was a justice secretary. Before that, he faced one of the most difficult weeks of his life, his in-laws were victims of the atrocities caused in Gaza by Hamas and he took a relatively early stance on the situation and stood for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. In his first year as a minister, he saw the postponement of the deposit return scheme and his highly protected marine area scheme was also scrapped.
Many believe that the reason for the resignation of Mr. Yousuf as the leader was because of the two non-confidence motion being raised against him. Yousuf on the contrary stated that it was “Absolutely Possible” for him to win it. He chose to leave as he did not want to compromise on his ideals and principles just to have power.
Humza Yousaf and the Scottish greens power-sharing arrangement came to an end after the government had dropped a 2030 climate change target. Yousaf stated that he did not have the intention to anger the Greens but wanted to end the power-sharing agreement. The angry members of Green wanted to hold a vote on whether the agreement would end or not but Yousaf held an early morning meeting at the Bute house and ended the agreement.
Leader of Scotland made and announcement regarding Humza Yousaf
Many other political leaders have commented on this news. Leader of Scottish Labour Anas Sarwar warned the SNP to not force an unelected leader on Scotland again. Douglas Ross the leader of the Scottish conservative party stated that Hamza Yousaf had let the people of Scotland down.
Now the question of who will be elected after Yousaf rises. If SSNP fails to appoint a leader within the next 28 days then Scottish elections will be held. The two candidates John Sweeney and Yousaf’s previous rival are speculated to lead the party. The SNP though is at a risk to lose their majority at the Scottish parliament and then Westminster one as per the polls. The SNP needs to play their cards right in order to save their reputation.
