Nicola Sturgeon formally resigns as first minister

Nicola Sturgeon has officially tendered her resignation as Scotland's first minister in a letter to the King.

Ms Sturgeon announced last month that she would stand down once a successor was appointed.

Humza Yousaf was elected to replace her as SNP leader on Monday - and will be confirmed as the new first minister in a Holyrood vote on Tuesday afternoon.

After writing her resignation letter, Ms Sturgeon left her Bute House residence for the final time.

She was Scotland's longest-serving first minister, having spent 3,051 days - more than eight years - in the role.

Ms Sturgeon was seen embracing the household staff who work at Bute House and posed for photographs with her team as she prepared to leave the Edinburgh residence.

As she walked down the stairs of the building, which are adorned with pictures of the first ministers, a nail could be seen protruding from the wall ready for the picture of her successor.

A spokesman for the Scottish government said: "She formally tendered her resignation in writing this morning to His Majesty King Charles III. This has been accepted and the Scottish Parliament has been notified."

Mr Yousaf will be formally elected as Ms Sturgeon's successor and Scotland's sixth first minister in a vote of MSPs.

The new SNP leader is virtually certain to become the first ethnic minority leader of a devolved government by winning a majority of the votes.

The leaders of the three opposition parties - the Conservatives, Labour and Lib Dems - are expected to stand against him, but have no prospect of winning the contest.

The Scottish Greens - who have a power-sharing agreement with the SNP - have already said they will back Mr Yousaf, which should ensure he wins a majority in the first round of voting.

All of the candidates will make a brief speech before the vote, with Mr Yousaf expected to be formally sworn in as first minister in a brief ceremony at the Court of Session in Edinburgh on Wednesday.

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He will start forming his new cabinet team later this week, and will face opposition leaders for the first time at the weekly First Minister's Questions on Thursday.

Mr Yousaf won the SNP leadership on Monday after narrowly defeating Kate Forbes by 26,032 votes to 23,890 once the second preference votes of Ash Regan - who finished a distant third - were reallocated.

Mr Yousaf had been serving as health secretary and was seen as being Ms Sturgeon's preferred successor - with some pundits surprised at how close the final result was.

Despite the turmoil of the campaign, which saw Ms Forbes launch a highly personal attack on Mr Yousaf's competence in a live TV debate, both of the defeated candidates congratulated the new leader on his success and urged the party to unite behind him.

Ms Sturgeon thanked staff as she left her Bute House residence for the final time after 3,051 days as first minister

Ms Sturgeon paid tribute to all three candidates for "rising to the challenge" during the leadership contest, adding: "Most of all I congratulate Humza Yousaf and wish him every success.

"He will be an outstanding leader and first minister and I could not be prouder to have him succeed me."

Neil Gray, the culture minister who managed Mr Yousaf's leadership campaign, has said that the new first minister would have conversations with both Ms Forbes and Ms Regan about bringing them into government.

Speaking to the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme, Mr Gray also rejected calls by Scottish Labour for an election to be held.

He said: "Humza has a very clear mandate, I think that will be earned by his election today and he absolutely has the power to govern going forward."

The SNP repeatedly called for a general election during last year's Conservative leadership campaign, arguing that whoever took over from Boris Johnson would have no mandate because they had been picked by Tory party members rather than the country as a whole.

It is not yet known what Ms Sturgeon will do after leaving office - although she will remain as a backbench MSP for now

But Mr Gray said: "The democratically elected MSPs who choose the first minister through a ballot in the Scottish Parliament have that opportunity to do so today.

"This is a different situation than what we faced when Gordon Brown took over from Tony Blair, for instance, where there wasn't an election or, indeed, the various Conservative leaders who have been elected by the party over the last few years."

Mr Yousaf described himself as the "luckiest man in the world" after being confirmed as the new SNP leader and pledged to be a "first minister for all of Scotland."

He told voters he would "work every minute of every day to earn and re-earn your respect and your trust" and said he would "kickstart" a grassroots campaign that would "ensure our drive for independence is in fifth gear".

He added: "The people of Scotland need independence now more than ever before, and we will be the generation that delivers independence for Scotland."

Mr Yousaf will be confirmed as Scotland's new first minister on Tuesday afternoon

Speaking to ITV News after his victory, Mr Yousaf said he would ask the UK government to grant formal consent to hold another referendum "right away" despite saying during the campaign that the party must "make sure that we're not obsessing about Section 30s and de facto referendums because people just don't get inspired by that".

Downing Street has already said it will not change its stance in opposing a referendum, with the prime minister's spokesman saying he would instead be focused on the "issues that matter" to people like reducing inflation and tackling the cost of living crisis.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said it was "obvious that Humza Yousaf has the wrong priorities for Scotland" as he confirmed he would stand against him in the first minister vote.

Mr Ross added: "During the leadership election he focused on independence above everything else and therefore I think it's right that the people of Scotland hear voices within parliament".

Labour's health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie claimed that Mr Yousaf had a "woeful record" in government.

She added: "As transport minister the trains never ran on time, as justice secretary he trashed the justice system, he has been the worst health secretary in the history of devolution and I am worried he has simply failed upwards, is out of his depth and is incompetent and I worry for the country."

Right now, Scotland doesn't have a first minister.

King Charles has accepted Nicola Sturgeon's resignation, and it will be tomorrow morning before Humza Yousaf is sworn in as her replacement at the Court of Session, having been nominated by a majority of MSPs.

Ms Sturgeon is clearly happy to be moving on - she posted an Instagram clip of her morning walk featuring the song "Feeling Good".

Mr Yousaf too may be on a high after his narrow victory in the leadership race.

But the burdens of office will weigh on him very quickly. He will face first minister's questions on Thursday in the shadow of a towering in-tray of issues.

His government must wrestle with economic turbulence, the cost of living crisis and a creaking health service, all while he strives to reunite his party.

Mr Yousaf won't need long to discover why Ms Sturgeon is "feeling good" about leaving it all behind.

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