It took a resignation speech for Humza Yousaf to finally show some political judgement

When the end finally came for Humza Yousaf he delivered a resignation speech worthy of a leader, a graceful conclusion to an otherwise ignominious tenure as Scotland’s first minister.

While it had already become clear that Yousaf’s time as occupant of Bute House was drawing to a close, it’s worth noting just how quickly things went awry for the first minister. Less than a week ago, Yousaf was ruling out giving SNP members another vote on the Bute House Agreement, telling journalists he hoped it would continue. Yet 48 hours later he was tearing up the power-sharing deal, setting in train a series of events that would culminate in his own demise. If all political careers end in failure, then few come crashing to the ground in flames as dramatically as this.

If Yousaf was dealt a poor hand by his predecessor, as has been often said, then he nevertheless played his cards badly. While it will be his termination of the deal with the Greens that will haunt him, it was his decision to style himself as the continuity candidate, the heir apparent to Nicola Sturgeon, which made life difficult for the SNP leader. It meant Yousaf’s time in office was marked by a series of embarrassing climbdowns – on gender reform, on the deposit return scheme – and his inability to stamp his own authority on the government he now led.

His prevaricating over former health secretary Michael Matheson was a case in point. When Matheson was found to have billed taxpayers for an £11,000 data roaming bill and later lied to journalists about it, Yousaf stood by him when he had an opportunity to do the right thing. In the end it was Matheson, left without any other choice, who took the decision to quit.

On the Greens too, Yousaf dithered. While the Greens’ apparent attempts to undermine the credibility of the Cass Review into gender services for children and young people appears to have been the final straw, Yousaf’s decision to dump his partners in government was done in a cack-handed fashion.

For too long it had looked as if the tail was wagging the dog but if the move to scrap the Bute House Agreement was the right one, the timing and handling was typically maladroit. It looked very much like a decision rushed into before members of the Scottish Greens had the chance to vote in favour of walking away from government after the scrapping of a key climate pledge.

The choice now for the SNP is to opt for another continuity candidate in the shape of former Deputy First Minister John Swinney or to make a clean break with former finance secretary Kate Forbes, a choice that will alienate the Greens even more. Neither Swinney or Forbes has actually said they want the job. Other names in the frame, health secretary Neil Gray or Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, have been quick to rule themselves out. Typically, Yousaf’s speech left more questions than answers over how quickly the vacancy will be filled.

But what is an undoubted crisis for the SNP is good for Scottish politics. For too long Scotland’s party of government has ruled with an imperiousness and a high-handedness which saw it fail to listen to legitimate concerns over the Hate Crime Act or its failed attempt at reforming the Gender Recognition Act, concerns Sturgeon famously dismissed as “not valid”.

Just as Yousaf promised to do in a last-ditch attempt to save himself, the new SNP leader will have to work with other parties to foster consensus. Ten years on from the referendum, the bitterness which has dogged Scottish politics since the constitutional debate was first opened may finally be coming to an end.

It’s not the legacy he would have wanted, but if Sturgeon’s departure bequeathed division, then Yousaf’s failure could signal the beginning of a new chapter in Scottish politics, one where government once again acts in the country’s best interests not just those of the SNP.