SNP backlash to any Alba Party deal puts Humza Yousaf on borrowed time

Humza Yousaf’s position appears increasingly untenable after senior SNP figures indicated they would not accept a deal with Alex Salmond that would allow the First Minister to cling on to power.

Mr Salmond said his Alba Party was prepared to help the First Minister “out of a pretty tight corner” ahead of a vote of no confidence at Holyrood this week.

Alba’s Ash Regan is expected to have the decisive vote that will determine whether Mr Yousaf survives and Mr Salmond said an agreement could be reached that did not involve an electoral pact.

Instead he said Ms Regan would use face-to-face talks with Mr Yousaf to “make a set of reasonable proposals” around independence and moving away from transgender issues to bread-and-butter matters such as the economy.

But Mr Yousaf’s chances of survival suffered a serious blow after furious SNP figures made clear they would not accept a deal with Alba. Relations between the two independence-supporting parties are toxic and extremely hostile.

Pete Wishart, the SNP’s longest-serving MP, said Mr Salmond must be told “quite clearly” that he could “never, ever” have influence over the Scottish Government.

Stewart McDonald, another senior SNP MP, warned an agreement with the former first minister “would go down like a bucket of cold sick with voters.”

Other SNP figures were privately livid at the prospect of any sort of deal, with one warning it would split the party. They predicted Mr Yousaf would realise it was a non-starter and announce his resignation before the vote was held.

Sources close to Mr Yousaf attempted to head off a rebellion by arguing the First Minister would only be negotiating with Ms Regan in her capacity as an MSP.

However, this was undermined by Mr Salmond touring the TV stations on Sunday morning setting out Alba’s demands for propping up Mr Yousaf.

The First Minister appeared to have no pathway for survival other than to try and reach a deal with Alba after the Scottish Greens made clear they would not rethink their decision to back the vote of no confidence.

Lorna Slater, one of the Greens co-leaders, said Mr Yousaf “needs to face the consequences” of his decision last week to scrap his power-sharing deal with her party.

The collapse of the agreement last Thursday prompted Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross to table the no confidence motion. A vote will be held later this week and Mr Yousaf is expected to resign if he loses.

The First Minister has written to all Holyrood’s opposition party leaders inviting them for talks in a last-ditch attempt to cling on. However, only Ms Regan has so far accepted.

Her power over Mr Yousaf’s future marks an extraordinary reversal of fortunes after she finished a distant third to him in last year’s SNP leadership contest.

The First Minister said that it was “no great loss” when she later defected to Alba, becoming the party’s first and only MSP in the Scottish Parliament.

A senior SNP parliamentarian who has been part of the party’ discussions over Mr Yousaf’s future told The Telegraph: “He cannot do a deal with Alba – he would split the party.

“There would be the whole narrative of ‘Salmond saves the SNP First Minister’. We would also be beholden to him all the way through for the next two years (to the 2026 Holyrood election.”

Although they said “the doors were closed” with Ms Slater and Patrick Harvie, the other Greens’ co-leader, they said efforts were being made to reach out to other figures in the party.

Mr Ross said: “It’s clear that Humza Yousaf is finished and his time as First Minister is up. His political future hinges on being propped up by the discredited Alex Salmond and his Alba Party.

“Humza Yousaf’s begging letter to plead for his job exposed his desperation and his weak leadership. The idea that he can continue even if he does secure the support of Alba’s MSP is for the birds.”

Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader, said: “This SNP government is collapsing before our eyes and no dodgy deals with Alex Salmond can save Humza Yousaf’s job.

“It’s clearly a matter of when, not if, Humza Yousaf goes – but that is not enough.” She called for a Holyrood election.

Mr Yousaf has found himself being held political hostage by Mr Salmond’s party after his decision last week to end his coalition deal with the Greens backfired spectacularly.

Green members were scheduled to vote next month whether they should remain in the Scottish Government after it scrapped its keynote climate change target.

The First Minister repeatedly endorsed the power-sharing agreement up until Tuesday last week, only to perform an extraordinary about-turn and scrap it less than 48 hours later. He is now leading a minority government.

His future is on a knife edge after Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens said they would all back the Tory motion of no confidence.

This meant it had the support of parties that together have 64 MSPs, with the 63 SNP MSPs opposed, making Ms Regan’s vote decisive.

If she supported Mr Yousaf, this could tie the vote at 64 each, giving Holyrood’s presiding officer Alison Johnstone the casting vote. Ms Johnstone is duty bound to vote for the status quo, meaning Mr Yousaf would survive.

If Mr Yousaf resigns, barely a year after he replaced Nicola Sturgeon, MSPs would have 28 days to agree on a new first minister, or a Holyrood election would be automatically triggered.

Labour has tabled a separate motion of no confidence in the entire Scottish Government, rather than just Mr Yousaf, but this is less likely to pass as the Greens have yet to provide their support.

Mr Salmond dismissed a report in The Sunday Times that Alba’s top demand was an electoral pact that would see the SNP step aside in some Holyrood seats.

He told Sky News: “What Ash Regan will do in the meetings she’s been invited to by Humza Yousaf, the First Minister is to make a set of reasonable proposals to help him out of a very tight corner and put Scotland back on a sensible governmental road.

“Stressing the priority of independence for Scotland, the protection of women and girls in Scottish society, and a return of the government to the things that matter to the people: education, health, housing and, above all, the economy and jobs.

“These are the reasonable proposals that Ash Regan will be putting forward.”

Move away from divisive culture

The former first minister told the BBC he wanted Mr Yousaf to move away from the “divisive” culture and identity politics that marked his coalition with the Greens.

He also said Ms Regan would propose an independence convention of all the nationalist parties and legislation calling “for the negotiation of independence”. Mr Salmond said his party was preparing for an election if the talks failed.

But Mr Wishart, the Perth and North Perthshire MP, tweeted: “Alex obviously loving all this attention this morning, as he should, with his party having never had anybody elected to anything.

“He now wants to exert influence over our government and he must be told quite clearly that can never, ever, happen.”

Mr McDonald tweeted: “Never a question we could do a deal with Salmond – a former host on Russia Today.

“It would go down like a bucket of cold sick with voters and be met with horror in European capitals. To cut a deal with such a figure as Russian bombs thud into Ukraine would be reputation shredding.”

Ian Blackford, the SNP’s former Westminster leader, apologised to the Scottish Greens for how Mr Yousaf had handled scrapping the coalition deal and appealed to them to rethink backing the motion of no confidence.

If their seven MSPs abstained, then Mr Yousaf would be safe. He told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg: “I apologise for what has happened this week, it could have happened in a different way, but we are where we are. I would say [to the Greens], don’t throw it away this week.

“Show your faith and trust in the First Minister. We are where we are. We can make sure this government can deliver on the priorities for the people of Scotland if we make sure Humza Yousaf remains our First Minister.”

But Ms Slater told BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show: “We will vote in support of a vote of no confidence in Humza Yousaf and I cannot imagine anything at this point that could change that position.

“We said all along that it [the coalition] was based on trust and respect, and I still have trust and respect for a lot of my SNP colleagues, but Humza Yousaf has broken that and he needs to face the consequences.

“We are ready for an election. We are ready and willing to put our hat in the ring.”

Alex Cole-Hamilton, the Scottish Lib Dem leader, became the latest party leader to reject Mr Yousaf’s invitation to talks.

In his reply to the First Minister, he said: “Put simply, you have run out of road. It’s time to put the national interest first, resign the office of First Minister and call a Scottish parliamentary election so that the people of Scotland can determine the future of both our parliament and our country.”