The Greens were furious with Humza Yousafpublished at 10:17 British Summer Time 29 April

10:17 BST 29 April

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

What’s been clear over the last few days is that the anger of the Scottish Greens is personal.

They were furious at Humza Yousaf personally for pulling the plug on the governing agreement.

But might they back another SNP first minister, thus avoiding a Holyrood election?

It seems a possibility, if it was someone who was prepared to talk to the Greens on issues like the environment and social reform.

That would perhaps put John Swinney in a strong position to shore up support, if he was tempted to run.

Kate Forbes might find it harder to persuade the Greens, given her more socially conservative views. But could she persuade another party to help her win enough support to hold power?

Even though though Humza Yousaf is standing down, there are big challenges still to be confronted for the SNP.

Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf was seen getting into his official car and leaving his house near Dundee this morning.

He is on his way to Edinburgh where he is expected to make a statement announcing his resignation at midday.

We've just had confirmation that Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf will make a statement at 12:00 BST today.

It's widely expected he'll announce he's quitting his job.

Scotland's former deputy first minister has indicated there will indeed be a major announcement from Humza Yousaf later today.

In brief remarks to journalists as he headed into an event in Westminster, John Swinney said: "Obviously there's a lot to happen today so I think we should probably wait to hear what the first minister's got to say today."

Asked again about Yousaf's future, he said: "As I say, we'll wait to hear what the first minister has got to say later on today."

Swinney has been one of the Scottish National Party's most recognisable figures since the party first won power in 2007. He stood down as deputy first minister last year.

In the event a caretaker first minister is sought to replace Yousaf pending a longer SNP leadership election, Swinney is widely considered to be a candidate for that position.

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

Who might replace Humza Yousaf when he resigns?

Names being discussed in the SNP this morning include Kate Forbes, who Yousaf beat in the leadership contest last year.

Some are urging former deputy first minister John Swinney to run for the job.

Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth has also been mentioned.

Image source, PA Media

If the first minister resigns, the Scottish Parliament has 28 days to choose a new one.

It will be up to the members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) to nominate a candidate to replace Humza Yousaf.

By convention, this will be the leader of the party with the most representation in parliament, which is currently the Scottish National Party (SNP).

Nominees are given the opportunity to argue their case and then MSPs cast their vote for a preferred candidate.

When a party has a majority in parliament, this process is a formality - but that is not the case at the moment.

If MSPs can decide on a new first minister, they are then recommended to the monarch for appointment, who rubberstamps the process.

The new first minister then picks their new ministers and leads the government.

However, if the MSPs can't decide on a new first minister, parliament must be dissolved and a new election called.

Lynsey Bews
BBC Scotland political correspondent

The media presence is now growing outside Bute House in Edinburgh, the first minister’s official residence.

Two of Humza Yousaf’s senior advisers have arrived in the past half hour.

The first minister is travelling to Edinburgh from his home in Dundee. His resignation is now widely expected later today.

How did Humza Yousaf get here?published at 09:14 British Summer Time 29 April

09:14 BST 29 April

James Cook
Scotland Editor, BBC News

As soon as Humza Yousaf ejected the Scottish Greens from his government, he set the clock ticking on a race to find support to sustain him in office.

None of his options was particularly attractive.

He could have struck a deal with Alex Salmond’s Alba party but, I was told in robust terms, that was a non-starter. There was no way that Yousaf wanted to be beholden to the former SNP leader, a man who is currently taking legal action against the Scottish government after its mishandling of harassment complaints against him.

Yousaf did try, and fail, to win back the Scottish Greens, trying to persuade them to support his minority government. But Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater were insulted by the manner of their dismissal from Bute House, furious about the potential impact on environmental and social policy, and resolute that Yousaf, not necessarily the SNP, had to go.

Finally, he could have tried to face down the Greens and Alba, without offering any concessions or assurances, daring them to bring down a fellow pro-independence politician. That was seen as an unattractive, and potentially humiliating, option.

The clock had run out —the only other path that remained was to quit.

Now, as we've been reporting, Scotland's first minister is expected to resign as early as today, the BBC understands.

Paul O'Kane, a Labour MSP, tells the Good Morning Scotland programme: "We've been saying across the weekend it's a matter of when not if.

"The moment of when is perhaps upon us."

O'Kane points out: "This has been a story of chaos and the government is clearly in chaos and is failing the people of Scotland."

He insists there has been a "serious failure" by the Scottish government.

Even if Humza Yousaf resigns Labour's motion of no-confidence in the Scottish government will remain tabled, he adds.

Since last night, we heard rumours and whispers that Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf is set to walk away.

In the last few minutes, the BBC has established that the first minister will indeed quit - and as early as today.

Yousaf's position seems to have shifted substantially on Sunday. Yesterday evening, the BBC's Scotland editor James Cook was told by an SNP source that Yousaf was considering stepping down, which marked a departure from the noises we had been hearing that he wanted to fight on.

This morning, our political editor Chris Mason and correspondent Nick Eardley heard similar reports from other sources familiar with the internal workings of the SNP.

About an hour ago, BBC Scotland's political correspondent David Wallace Lockhart was told there was a growing expectation among senior figures in the party that Yousaf would step down.

Now, it looks all but certain that Yousaf is going to quit and things could move very quickly.

Political reporting - particularly on sensitive issues like this one - often relies on us speaking to people who work closely with politicians or for parties in order to find out what discussions are going on behind closed doors.

Neither Yousaf or the SNP are saying anything publicly this morning, so we are relying on these often anonymous sources to give us the inside scoop.

We'll keep making those phone calls and bring you the latest as soon as we get it.

Kenny MacAskill, the East Lothian MP who served as Scotland's justice secretary before moving to Westminster and defecting to Alba, told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland that Alba’s only MSP Ash Regan has been back in contact with the first minister.

He said Alba's demands had not changed, but no meeting has been put in place yet.

MacAskill said it would be an “absurd situation” for Yousaf to resign when there was an “opportunity for the SNP to get back on the independence track” through a pact with Alba.

However, he said the Alba party was not there to simply “prop up” the SNP.

He said the party was ready for an election but added: “It’s probably not what the Scottish people want.”

Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf to resign as early as today, the BBC understands.

Image source, PA Media

Humza Yousaf has reportedly ruled out cutting a deal with Alba, a pro-independence party formed by former First Minister Alex Salmond after he broke from the SNP.

The party only has one MSP, Ash Regan, but that single vote would give the SNP a tie in any confidence vote and save the first minister - assuming all members of his own party backed him.

Yesterday we reported Salmond had set out his terms for any such deal with the SNP.

He said it would rely on a renewed push for Scottish independence, and a shift from "identity politics" to the "people's priorities".

Salmond would also want the SNP to support his plan for a referendum on whether the Scottish Parliament should have the legal right to hold a new vote on independence, something which only Westminster can approve now.

It seems unlikely Yousaf is going to take him up on that offer.

David Wallace Lockhart
BBC Scotland Political correspondent

There is growing expectation in both the Scottish Government and the SNP that Humza Yousaf will quit as first minister today.

Senior figures believe the first minister will announce his resignation later today.

Though the BBC has been told that no final decision has been made.

Now as we've been reporting, speculation about the future of Scotland's first minister is rife at the moment.

SNP MSP Michelle Thomson tells Good Morning Scotland she's hearing the same rumours as journalists are: "We're all waiting to see what the actual position is."

"I guess the rumours suggest something is afoot," she adds.

Thomson says she and her colleagues have had no update yet.

"I guess we'll all hear definitively one way or another this morning."

Image source, Getty Images

Ash Regan is now an Alba MSP, and her vote could be crucial when a motion of no confidence in Humza Yousaf takes place in the Scottish Parliament.

Regan was little known outside political circles until she quit Nicola Sturgeon’s government as community safety minister in October 2022. She was a long-standing critic of plans to make it easier for someone to change their legally-recognised gender.

The following year she was one of three candidates in the contest to replace Nicola Sturgeon as party leader and first minister. She finished third in that vote, which was won by Humza Yousaf.

She continued to serve as an SNP member of parliament, but only for a few months.

In October last year she defected to join the pro-independence Alba Party, established by Alex Salmond. She said the SNP had "lost its focus on independence".

Image source, Reuters

1. A motion from the Scottish Conservatives focused on Yousaf himself as first minister. It is non-binding, although it would be hard for him to remain in post if it was carried
2. A Scottish Labour motion which would force the whole Scottish government to resign if passed

The parliamentary bureau, made up of the presiding officer and MSPs from the main parties, will decide this week when the vote takes place and normally gives two days notice.

Image source, Reuters

Humza Yousaf’s decision last week to end the Scottish National Party’s power-sharing deal with the Scottish Green Party followed a backlash over the SNP’s decision to scrap climate targets.

The Greens accused Yousaf of selling out future generations” over climate and had been due to hold a vote on whether to remain in power with the SNP in response.

Scotland's NHS also said it was pausing prescribing puberty blockers to under-18s referred by the country's only specialist clinic, following a report by Dr Hilary Cass.

Green party co-leader Patrick Harvie said there was also “distress” among members that young trans people would not be able to get the treatment they needed.

Yousaf, for his part, said his SNP party’s alliance with the Greens was "no longer guaranteeing a stable arrangement in parliament.”

You can read more about how the power-sharing relationship collapsed here.

Image source, PA Media

When the SNP fell short of a majority in the 2021 Parliamentary elections, they formed an alliance with the Scottish Greens.

The agreement was billed as, external a “shared programme agreed to build a greener, fairer, independent Scotland".

It set out how the Scottish government and the Greens intended to work together over five years – the duration of the session six Parliament.

Policy priorities were in areas such as the climate emergency, economic recovery, child poverty, the natural environment, energy and the constitution.

Bute House is the Edinburgh residence of Scotland’s first ministers - where the deal was reached.

Image source, .

Sometimes it’s just easier to see it. As this graphic shows, the SNP are a whisker short of being in control.

If Humza Yousaf gets the support of Alba's Ash Regan, there would be a 64:64 tie.

And in that scenario, convention says that the presiding officer would vote to maintain the status quo - so he’d remain in place.