The Bute House Agreement – signed back in 2021 and named after the first minister’s official residence in Edinburgh – brought the Green Party into government for the first time anywhere in the UK.
It gave the SNPa majority at Holyrood when the votes of its MSPs were combined with those of the seven Green members, and also made Green co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater junior ministers.
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Without it, the SNP would need to have operated as a minority administration at Holyrood.
What caused the relationship to sour?
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There had been mounting tensions between the largest party at Holyrood and their junior partners in government.
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‘I intend to fight that vote’
What brought things to a head?
Mr Yousaf decided to pull the plug on the agreement – arguing it had “served its purpose” – prompting a major fallout with his former allies, who vowed to back a no-confidence motion in his leadership proposed by Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross.
So how do the numbers stack up?
Tight to say the least.
As the leader of a now minority government, Mr Yousaf’s fate is set to depend on just one vote – that of a former SNP leadership rival.
In the Scottish parliament, the SNP has 63 seats out of 129, two short of an outright majority.
The Greens voting in favour of the no-confidence motion would mean 64 MSPs do not back the first minister.
The presiding officer Alison Johnstone, the equivalent of the Commons speaker, traditionally does not vote and would only so so in the event of a tiebreak and would be expected to support the status quo – so back the first minister.
That leaves Ash Regan, the one-time SNP leadership rival to Mr Yousaf who defected to Alex Salmond’s Alba Party last October.
She has written to the first minister, setting out demands in exchange for her support.
Image: Ash Regan. Pic: PA
When will the vote be held?
Any no-confidence vote in Mr Yousaf is likely to take place next week, with timings to be confirmed by parliamentary business managers who are expected to meet on Tuesday.
What happens if Mr Yousaf loses?
The vote is not binding and so he would not be forced to step down – but he would be under immense pressure to quit, and his position likely to be judged untenable if he did not have the confidence of most MSPs.
However, the resignation of the first minister would not automatically trigger a Holyrood election, with a 28-day grace period for MSPs to choose a replacement.
This means that if Mr Yousaf was to quit, the SNP may seek to have a replacement leader installed in the post – assuming they could muster enough support.
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No. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar says he will separately lay a motion of no confidence in the Scottish government.
While this carries more far-reaching implications by compelling ministers to resign and raising the prospect of an election, it is unlikely to succeed.
Alba has already ruled out its pivotal support, accusing Mr Sarwar of “grandstanding”.
BNM’s tokenization roadmap aims to focus on real-world use cases such as SME supply chain financing, Shariah-compliant Islamic products, green finance and 24/7 cross-border payments.
A Reform UK councillor has defected to the Tories after becoming “uncomfortable” with Nigel Farage’s party.
James Buchan said he wanted to be able to “look my family in the eye and say, ‘that’s not who I am'” after his former party announced plans to scrap indefinite leave to remain.
The Dartford Borough councillor, who won his seat for Reform in a by-election in July, said the policy creates a “huge amount of fear and anxiety”.
He also accused the party of having “a pretty unfortunate way of treating people”.
Image: James Buchan. Pic: Dartford Borough Council
In a statement, Mr Buchan said: “I stood for election with the sole aim of working for my community and getting things done for local families.
“Having had the opportunity to see Reform from the inside, I’ve concluded that the party doesn’t really have the experience or ambition to do that.”
He said “relying on rhetoric and slogans isn’t going to help real families in communities” like his and “the more I saw of Reform UK, the more uncomfortable I felt to be part of it”.
“Things like a proposal to remove indefinite leave to remain from all non-EU residents who are working here perfectly legally is an example that could be devastating for decent people who have built a life here and contribute to our country,” he added.
Earlier this year Reform announced it would axe indefinite leave to remain and replace it with new visas that would require migrants to reapply to live in the UK as part of plans to tighten immigration.
Conservative council leader Jeremy Kite welcomed Mr Buchan, who represents the Stone House ward, to the party.
“James knows that getting elected isn’t about power, it’s about service and being supportive of people,” he said.
A Reform source told the PA news agency: “He got elected in July 2025 as a Reform councillor. He should resign his seat but he won’t because he knows he will lose under the Tory banner.
“We look forward to winning this seat back as soon as possible.”