Alex Salmond: Humza Yousaf tried to strike a deal with Alba in hours before he quit

Former first minister and Alba leader Alex Salmond has said Humza Yousaf attempted to do a deal with his party in the hours before he quit.

The first minister announced his intention to resign the position on Monday morning.

But Salmond said Yousaf had been attempting to come to an agreement with Alba as late as 7.30am before being blocked by what he called the SNP’s “old guard”.

Yousaf’s decision to quit followed several days of speculation after he unilaterally ended the SNP’s cooperation deal with the Scottish Greens.

He was facing a vote of no confidence in the parliament this week as a result of that decision, but only required the backing of one opposition MSP to see off that motion.

Yousaf last week wrote to the leaders of all Holyrood parties, including Alba’s Ash Regan, seeking support.

Salmond, speaking to the BBC, said those conversations were still ongoing and Yousaf and Regan had been set to speak on Monday.

He said: “This idea that Humza Yousaf didn’t want to do a deal with Alba is just simply untrue. At half past seven this morning he was trying to do a deal with Alba and complemented the proposals we had made as very reasonable.

“The reason he didn’t do a deal with Alba is because there are forces within his own party who stopped him doing it – let’s call them the old guard.

“The ultimate problem for Humza was that he wasn’t actually in control of his own party, which is why he wasn’t able to survive over the next week. He said he was trying to carry on as first minister and he phoned Alba to say our proposals that we had made and given him were very reasonable. We were waiting, and Ash Regan was waiting, for a meeting with him which had been promised.”

Regan had written to the first minister last week to set out her demands in exchange for her vote.

She called for Scottish independence, the rights of women and children and “competent government” to be prioritised.

But in his statement from Bute House, Yousaf said: “While a route through this week’s motion of no confidence was absolutely possible, I am not willing to trade my values and principles or do deals with whomever, simply for retaining power.”

The SNP will now move to host a leadership election. Yousaf will not formally resign as first minister until a successor is lined up.