The Scottish Green Party will join with rival MSPs to back a no confidence motion in First Minister Humza Yousaf next week, after the SNP kicked its coalition partners out of government.
Mr Yousaf announced his plan to cut ties with the Greens earlier on Thursday, following a bitter row over the SNP’s climbdown on climate targets.
And soon after, the Scottish Conservatives announced it would lodge a vote of no confidence in him, claiming the first minister had “failed” in his role and had “focused on the wrong priorities for Scotland”.
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Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats agreed to back the motion, with its success hanging on whether Green Party MSPs joined the attack to give SNP critics a majority in Holyrood.
But its co-leader, Patrick Harvie, is now expected to make an announcement at 5.30pm confirming they will join forces to condemn Mr Yousaf’s leadership, with Green sources telling Sky News there was serious anger among the ousted party.
If the vote passes, it will still be up to Mr Yousaf to decide on how to respond. However, its puts increasing pressure on his position if he fails to hold the confidence of the majority of the parliament.
However, if a no confidence vote was passed on the government, the SNP government would have to resign and appoint a new first minister within 28 days or call an election.
Speaking to the Press Association, the Green’s other co-leader, Lorna Slater, said her party had “no confidence” in Mr Yousaf going forward.
“We supported Humza Yousaf to be first minister last year on the basis of a pro-independence majority government, where we would be working together to deliver rent controls, to deliver real change on climate, nature, new protections for tenants,” she said.
“Today the first minister decided to tear up that agreement… so we no longer have confidence in a progressive government in Scotland doing the right thing for climate and nature.”
