Skip to main content

Scotland’s Humza Yousaf resigns as country’s leader

Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf resigned on Monday, further opening the door to the UK opposition Labour Party to regain ground in its former Scottish heartlands in a national election expected later this year.

The 39-year-old politician said he would also stand down as leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) but would stay on until his successor was found.

Yousaf quit as head of the SNP after a week of chaos triggered by his scrapping of a coalition agreement with Scotland’s Greens.

He then failed to secure enough support to survive votes of no confidence against him expected later this week.

Resigning a little over a year after he replaced Nicola Sturgeon as first minister and SNP leader, Yousaf said it was time for someone else to lead Scotland’s devolved government.

The SNP’s fortunes have faltered over a funding scandal and the resignation of Sturgeon as party leader last year. There has also been infighting over how progressive its pitch should be as it seeks to win back voters.

Caught between defending the progressive record of the coalition government and some nationalists’ demands to jettison gender recognition reforms and refocus on the economy, Yousaf could not strike a balance that would ensure his survival.

The SNP is losing popular support after 17 years of heading the Scottish government. Earlier this month, polling firm YouGov said the Labour Party had overtaken the SNP in voting intentions for a Westminster election for the first time in a decade.

Labour’s resurgence in Scotland adds to the challenge facing UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party, which is lagging far behind Labour in UK-wide opinion polls.

The Scottish parliament now has 28 days to choose a new first minister before an election is forced, with former SNP leader John Swinney and Yousaf’s former leadership rival Kate Forbes seen as possible successors.

A Scottish election will be held if the SNP cannot find a new leader to command support in parliament.



from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/0zETrcH
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Republican primary race for president in 2024

The Republican primary race for president in 2024 is already shaping up to be a competitive one. There are a number of high-profile candidates who have already announced their intention to run, and more are expected to join the field in the coming months. The frontrunner for the nomination is former President Donald Trump. Trump has been teasing a 2024 run for months, and he has a large and loyal following among Republican voters. However, he is also a polarizing figure, and his candidacy could alienate some moderate Republicans. Another potential contender for the nomination is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. DeSantis has been praised by many conservatives for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and his opposition to vaccine mandates. He is also seen as a rising star in the Republican Party. Other potential candidates include former Vice President Mike Pence, former Ambassador Nikki Haley, and Senator Tim Scott. Pence is a more traditional Republican who could appeal to moderate vote...
1 comment
Read more

Ministers rubbish notion that proposed retirement age extension to favour ‘one particular institution’

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday rubbished the notion that a proposed extension in the retirement age was to favour “one particular institution”, adding that the move would be implemented across the board if approved. The rebuttal comes in the wake of media reports claiming that the government was mulling changes to the Constitution to fix the tenure of the chief justice . Currently, judges of the Supreme Court, including the chief justice, retire after attaining the age of superannuation, i.e. 65 years, as stipulated in Article 179 of the Constitution. While giving his opinion recently on the reports of the constitutional amendment, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar had said he “will not vehemently turn down the proposals related to the tenure of the chief justice”. Addressing the issue during a press conference in Islamabad today along since Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and the law minister, Attaullah said the extension in the retirement age was “a proposal to a...
Post a Comment
Read more

In noisy NA session, Bilawal endorses PTI’s call for judicial inquiry into May 9 riots

In his maiden speech during a session of the newly elected National Assembly, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday endorsed the PTI’s call for a judicial inquiry into the May 9 riots. He passed these remarks in reference to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur’s recent call for the formation of a judicial commission to probe the violent protests that erupted across the country following PTI founder Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9 last year. “I call upon the chief justice Supreme Court of Pakistan (Justice Qaez Faiz Isa) to form [a judicial commission] and see who are the beneficiaries [of May 9],” Gandapur had said in a fiery speech after being elected the chief executive of KP. Speaking on the floor of the lower house of the Parliament today, Bilawal said he endorsed Gandapur’s demand. But at the same time, he stated that the result should be accepted by everyone, including the Imran-led party. “It is not possible that someone attacks our institution and th...
Post a Comment
Read more