On Thursday the First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf, of the Scottish National Party (SNP), announced the end of the agreement which in 2021 had allowed the formation of a government majority supported by the Green party. The deal, which was signed by then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, saw the Greens being given two ministries. In recent times, however, relations between the SNP and the Greens have deteriorated, especially after the government decided to cancel plans to reduce CO2 emissions by 75 percent by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.
On Thursday 25 April Yousaf finally decided to try to continue governing without the Greens, but without their support the SNP no longer has a majority in the Scottish parliament (it has 63 out of 128 MPs). Now Yousaf will therefore continue to lead a minority government, seeking from time to time the votes necessary to reach a majority in the votes.
Yousaf has been in government since March 2023, when he was elected leader of the SNP in place of Sturgeon, who a few weeks earlier had announced her resignation as prime minister and at the same time as party leader.
In response to the end of the coalition, the Greens have announced that they will ask to vote on a motion of no confidence against the government: in addition to the seven Green deputies, the motion should be supported by another 57 opposition deputies, including Conservatives, Liberals and Labor: why the SNP is not defeated, the decisive vote will be the vote of the only member of the Alba Party, Ash Regan, a nationalist party which was formed last October following a split from the SNP, to protest against a bill to facilitate the change of documents for trans people, approved in December.