Politics latest: 'Best person we have' claim as battle begins to succeed Humza Yousaf as Scotland's first minister (2024)

The Scottish Conservatives are withdrawing their motion of no confidence in Humsa Yousaf, arguing they got the "job done" after the first minister announced his intention to resign.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said: "I'm delighted that the Scottish Conservative motion of no confidence in Humza Yousaf achieved its purpose by forcing him to resign.

"While, on a personal level, I wish him well for the future, he was a disaster as first minister and it's in Scotland's interests that he goes.

"The next goal for my party is to see off this feuding, failing SNP government and switch the focus away from their independence obsession and on to the public's real priorities - such as growing the economy and improving Scotland's ailing public services.

"As it's job done in terms of Humza Yousaf, there's no longer any need for us to press ahead with a debate on our no-confidence motion."

By Connor Gillies, Scotland correspondent

A possible candidate to succeed Humza Yousaf has told Sky News the party needs to "come together" in the wake of the SNP leader's "dramatic" departure.

John Swinney is tipped to become the next first minister with current cabinet ministers throwing their weight behind his possible campaign.

Mr Swinney, a close ally of Nicola Sturgeon, said he is carefully considering his options.

Some SNP figures fear a coronation with no contest.

Kate Forbes, who ran last year and got almost 50% of the membership support, is also thinking of throwing her hat in the ring.

Sources close to her have suggested installing Mr Swinney would be tantamount to a "stitch-up".

Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf resigned yesterday in the face of two confidence votes after he dramatically brought the power-sharing deal with the Scottish Greens to an end last week.

How did we get here?

The Bute House Agreement - signed back in 2021 and named after the first minister's official residence in Edinburgh - brought the Green Party into government for the first time in the UK.

It gave the SNP a majority at Holyrood when the votes of its MSPs were combined with those of the seven Green members, and also made Green co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater junior ministers.

Without it, the SNP would need to have operated as a minority administration at Holyrood.

What caused the relationship to sour?

There had been mounting tensions between the largest party at Holyrood and their junior partners in government.

The Greens were angered at the SNP-led administration's recent decision to ditch a key climate change target.

That, combined with the decision to pause the prescription of new puberty blockers to under-18s at Scotland's only gender clinic, resulted in the Greens announcing they would have a vote on the future of the power-sharing deal.

What brought things to a head?

Mr Yousaf decided to pull the plug on the agreement last Thursday - arguing it had "served its purpose" - prompting a major fallout with his former allies, who vowed to back a no-confidence motion in his leadership proposed by Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross.

Scottish Labour also submitted a motion of no confidence in the Scottish government as a whole.

In the face of the two votes, Mr Yousaf announced he would stand down yesterday, but said he would stay on to allow a successor to be chosen.

With a general election looming, what counts as gains and losses for the main parties in next week's locals?

Sky's election analyst Michael Thrasher tells us what to look out for:

By Daniel Dunford, senior data journalist

There might not be a general election just yet, but there are important votes that will define how the areas around us are run for the next four years.

See what's happening where you are here:

Nominations have now opened in the SNP leadership contest to find a replacement for First Minister Humza Yousaf after he announced he was stepping down yesterday.

Senior figures have backed former deputy first minister John Swinney for the top job, while a smaller number of the party's parliamentarians have backed former finance secretary Kate Forbes.

Mr Yousaf has said he will stay on to allow a successor to be chosen.

How does the contest work?

The SNP's national secretary announced nominations had opened yesterday at 11.59pm.

They will close next Monday.

Prospective candidates will need to gain the support of 100 members from 20 different SNP branches in order to qualify for the contest.

What happens next?

Whoever wins the contest will then need to be able to win enough votes in Holyrood to be elected first minister.

The SNP needs just two votes to secure an overall majority.

The most likely backers for the SNP would be the Greens, given both parties are pro-independence.

However, the Greens announced last week they would not support the first minister in a confidence vote after Mr Yousaf scrapped the powersharing agreement between the party and the SNP, which eventually led to his political downfall.

The Tory MP who defected to Labour "never asked me" about his concerns regarding the NHS, Health Secretary Victoria Atkins told Sky News earlier this morning.

Dr Dan Poulter, a former health minister, joined Labour on Saturday and cited "mismanagement of the health service" as a key reason for his decision.

Asked about his comments, Ms Atkins said she had been "puzzled" by the decision.

She told Sky News: "I've been health secretary now for some five months and Dan had never raised these concerns with me, and I would expect anyone who has concerns about the NHS, I would hope, would discuss them with me, and I will do everything I can to try to deal with those concerns and to answer those concerns.

"But Dan, sadly, never asked me about those."

Ms Atkins said his only recent contact with her had been about a fundraising event he had asked her to speak at.

Earlier she told Sky News law enforcement agencies are pursuing asylum seekers who have failed to keep in contact with the Home Office (see 7.31am post).

By Trevor Phillips, presenter

I've known Rishi Sunak slightly for almost a decade, having first met him after he penned a thoughtful, comprehensive, well-received report on Britain's minority communities, which I'd say is still the best of its kind.

Sitting down to interview him in a state-of-the-art defence facility this week, I could still see the same energetic, likeable problem solver that I met back then, even if he's now surrounded by the prime ministerial cavalcade of aides, security, and media.

That Peloton and fasting regime are clearly doing their job. He's keen to show his detailed grasp of the situation, whether that's welfare reform, defence, or migration. It's easy to see why he shone in Silicon Valley and thrived in the Treasury.

However, in the political world he chose, there's a downside to being highly intelligent, disciplined, and super-focused on delivery, as they might say in California.

He betrays frustration with what he - not wholly unjustifiably - sees as a media obsession with polls and presentation.

Unfortunately, as Enoch Powell once pointed out, a politician who complains about journalists is like a sailor who doesn't much fancy being at sea.

Read the full analysis here:

Thursday's local elections have been pencilled in as a day of peril for Rishi Sunak for so long, it's hard to remember when Tory turbulence - and maybe even a leadership challenge - was not expected after 2 May.

Most council seats up for election were last contested in 2021, the high watermark of Boris Johnson's political prowess, when the Tories were benefiting from a vaccine bounce.

Since then, the party has plunged in the polls after ploughing through two prime ministerial downfalls.

But in the Politics At Jack And Sam's podcast, Politico UK editor Jack Blanchard and I explore whether it might be Labour who have the harder job to do if they don't clean up some of the highest profile races, with Tories winning in long-time Labour areas.

Thursday's local elections see 107 councils, 10 high-profile metro mayors and a parliamentary by-election in Blackpool South.

Unusually, both Tories and Labour are broadly setting their expectations in the same place and, by also studying the work of Sky analyst Professor Michael Thrasher, we've been working out what might happen.

Read more here:

An Abu Dhabi-backed vehicle has conceded defeat in its bid to buy The Daily Telegraph after its ownership was effectively blocked by the government.

RedBird IMI announced it had placed The Telegraph and The Spectator titles up for sale.

The move was confirmed after ministers revealed plans last month to outlaw foreign state ownership of UK newspapers.

Read more: