Sketch: Is Humza Yousaf bad at politics or an extremely effective unionist plant?

The phrase “hoist with his own petard” has never seemed so apt. At what point, one wonders, did Humza Yousaf realise he had well and truly blown it?

Perhaps it was a 9:30am last Thursday, 30 minutes before the soon-to-be-former first minister would confirm the Bute House Agreement was dead, when his former Green ministers accused him of being “weak and thoroughly hopeless”.

Or perhaps it was later that day, when Green co-leader Lorna Slater said her party did indeed have the courage of its convictions and does not have any confidence in Yousaf.

Or perhaps he truly did not realise until last night that his position was untenable. A man of great self-confidence, had he convinced himself that he could shrug the whole thing off as a bit of an “oopsie”? That Slater and Patrick Harvie would come around – once he’d given them space to cool off – and forgive him for the great betrayal? That this time next week, the three of them would be in Browns (two pale ales and an Irn Bru, thanks) laughing at Douglas Ross and Anas Sarwar, pals again?

In the only bit of political nous he has ever shown, Yousaf acknowledged he had “clearly underestimated the level of hurt and upset I caused Green colleagues”.

And yet he insisted, bizarrely, that it was still the right move. It might have ended his career. Heck, it might have damaged the SNP brand even more. But it wasn’t a mistake.

“I believed ending the Bute House Agreement was the right one for the party I lead, and I still do believe that to be the case. But most importantly I believe it was the right decision for the country,” he told the assembled journalists.

Well, perhaps on the grand scheme of things it might end up being the “right decision” for Scotland because it could be what sparks an end to this tired government. Perhaps Yousaf is, as suggested by  many a indy-conspiracist, a unionist plant. He is, in fact, a skilled political operator and things have gone exactly to plan… if that plan is to bring down the SNP.

Or maybe he’s just not very good at politics.

There was of course one way he could have survived a vote of no confidence. Unfortunately for him, that way took him straight to the front door of his former leadership rival – and “no great loss” – Ash Regan.

That, in Yousaf’s judgement, was beyond the pale. “I am not willing to trade my values and principles or do deals with whomever, simply for retaining power,” he said. Despite that “whomever” apparently waiting for the meeting he had promised, he just couldn’t bring himself to agree to the installation of an independence thermometer in George Square.

He does have an idea of who could be his successor, though. Everyone. Give the whole of Scotland a shot. Because if everyone could be “opportunity of being first minister for just one day” (or one-49^th of a Liz Truss, to use his favourite measure of time), they would be convinced by Scottish independence.

It certainly blows those thermometer blueprints out the water. And it would also conveniently make his tenure look quite long in comparison. Over-confident men are experts in making things seem longer than they are.

Yousaf did at least acknowledge that he’d left his successor in a bit of a pickle. And in the manner of a man trying to clean the mess on the carpet but only serving to smear it across the floor, he urged opposition parties to “not just oppose for opposition’s sake”. Please, please work with whoever next holds this great office, he asks.

And on a final note to the Greens, who he is really truly sorry for hurting, “I genuinely do wish you well. I bear no ill-will and certainly bear no grudge against anyone.” They may have played an integral role in ending his time as first minister, but he doesn’t hold it against them. Just perhaps this is an acknowledgement that he did this to himself.