Calling it quits.
Scotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf, has dispatched a letter to King Charles announcing his resignation from his post as the head of the Scottish government, pursuant to the election of John Swinney as to the head of the Scottish National Party, which controls the governing coalition in the Scottish parliament.
The 60 year-old Swinney, the former deputy minister, is expected to succeed Yousaf as first minister. He pledged to be the author of a “new chapter” in the history of the Scottish National Party.
Last week, Yousaf said that he had “paid the price” for the manner in which he terminated the power-sharing deal between the SNP and the Scottish Green Party. In his letter, Yousaf, who represents Glasgo Pollock in the Scottish parliament, informed King Charles that his resignation would become effective at parliament’s start-of-business on Tuesday. He also expressed his pleasure at having been given the opportunity to serve the people and the King as Scotland’s first minister. He singled out for particular gratitude the kindness shown to himself and his wife by the King, as well as the invaluable the counsel the King rendered to him from time to time. He described his term of service as a “phenomenal honor.”
Yousaf’s final speech to the Members of the Scottish Parliament will come just prior to the vote that will choose his successor, who will be the seventh first minister of Scotland in twenty-five years.
As a young Muslim who was born and raised on Scottish soil, Yousaf thought serving as the leader of his country was an impossible dream. People who “looked like me,” he said, did not at the time hold positions of political power, let alone top slots in the government. He said that he took great pride in his achievements, among which he counted a council tax freeze and the abolition of peak-demand rail fares.
He concluded by saying that, going forward, he intends to continue his work championing the voices of the unheard from his position in the back benches of the Scottish parliament.
