Scottish Government survives vote of no confidence

The Scottish Government has comfortably survived a vote of no confidence after the Greens backed the minority administration.

In the vote at Holyrood on Tuesday, 58 MSPs backed Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar’s motion of no confidence but 70 MSPs voted against.

First minister Humza Yousaf – who announced his resignation on Monday – said he was “proud” of his government’s record.

But Sarwar said the SNP was “so chaotic and dysfunctional” that it could not deliver “competent” government.

The Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie accused other opposition parties of being “performative and petty”, adding his party would seek to work with whoever the next first minister would be.

Sarwar lodged the motion of no confidence last week after Yousaf tore up the power-sharing deal with the Greens.

At the time it looked like the Greens may back the motion, putting the continuation of the government at risk.

However Yousaf’s resignation means the party is open to continue to work with the Scottish Government on a less formal basis.

Speaking in the debate today, Harvie said: “Both Labour and the Conservatives don’t actually want stable self-government for Scotland. We already had the best option: a stable, progressive, pro-independence majority government. And I regret that it hasn’t been allowed to continue, the government will no longer be a majority government. But minority government can work.”

Defending his government, Yousaf said he had been a “voice for peace and humanity” on the global stage, as well as delivering increased investment in the NHS and supporting the move to net zero. He added: “Those are just some of the choices I and those on the benches behind me are so proud of.”

A motion of no confidence was also lodged in Yousaf as first minister last week by Conservative leader Douglas Ross, but that was subsequently withdrawn.

Ross criticised Labour for failing to build majority support for its motion, adding his party had successfully managed to do so which ultimately forced the hand of Yousaf.

But Conservative MSPs did back the motion. Ross said: “Whichever nationalist wins [the SNP leadership], we already know they’ll obsess about independence over everything else.

“It could be Swinney, Forbes or any of the other 61 SNP MSPs, all they will really focus on is independence – not our economy, not schools, not our NHS.”

Sarwar called for a fresh election, saying the “country is crying out for change”.

He said: “It is now clear the SNP as a political party are so chaotic, divided and dysfunctional that it can't deliver competent government and it failing Scots every single day. I don’t believe that changes if they purely change the face at the top.”

The SNP is now undergoing the process of choosing a new leader.

No one has formally declared their candidacy yet, but both John Swinney and Kate Forbes are said to be considering standing.

Nominations close next Monday, but which point any candidates will have to have secured the backing of 100 SNP members from across 20 branches.

The party is set to confirm the timescale of the election in the coming days.