Getty ImagesBy James Cook, Scotland Editor & Natalie HigginsBBC NewsA minority government scrambling for support might look chaotic but the Scottish Parliament was designed to encourage rival parties to do deals.The vision for devolution was to get away from the adversarial atmosphere of Westminster, using a different electoral system to allow smaller parties a bigger voice and to encourage consensus.There was no sign of that on Monday when Humza Yousaf announced his resignation after clumsily ending a power-sharing arrangement with the Scottish Greens, ejecting them from his government.With 63 MSPs to the opposition’s 65, that left him trying to secure support to carry on in office, a task made more urgent by the tabling of motions of no confidence in his leadership and his government.The Glasgow Pollok MSP tried to persuade the scorned Greens to back him, to no avail; rejected a deal with the sole MSP from Alex Salmond’s Alba party; and, facing a humiliating parliamentary defeat, promptly announced his resignation.Race begins to relace Humza Yousaf as SNP leaderWho is John Swinney, front-runner to be the next first ministerWho might replace Humza Yousaf as SNP leader?It has not always been so difficult. Handled well, minority government has worked at Holyrood before. Both Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon presided over Scottish National Party (SNP) administrations which relied on opposition support. Now though, the acrimonious collapse of the pact with the Greens has exposed divisions not just within the parliament in Edinburgh but within the SNP itself over independence strategy, economic policy and social issues such as gender healthcare.On top of those troubles the party is under the shadow of a police investigation into its finances which has seen former chief executive Peter Murrell, the husband of Ms Sturgeon, charged by police.Who will inherit these challenges?Perhaps John Swinney, who led the SNP two decades ago?He has packed a lot of politics into his 60 years, joining the SNP at the age of 15.PA MediaMr Swinney has been a member of the Scottish Parliament since Tony Blair’s Labour Party devolved power to Edinburgh a quarter of a century ago.Among the potential contenders for the SNP leadership, Mr Swinney’s experience is unrivalled.He has a decade as finance secretary, six years running the education department and a nine-year stint as Nicola Sturgeon’s deputy first minister under his belt.If it is experience you want, Mr Swinney is hard to beat, although there are arguably two John Swinneys.In public he has been a doughty defender of independence, a parliamentary performer not averse to barracking and heckling his political opponents.In short, tribal. And yet, behind the scenes, he is that rare figure in politics, a man widely regarded by friend and foe alike as decent, kind and honest.Many senior colleagues in the SNP are urging him to run, hopeful that he can provide both stability and wisdom after 39-year-old Humza Yousaf’s brief, and often troubled, tenure.PA MediaThey include Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, Energy Secretary Màiri McAllan and Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth.”These are serious times and serious times demand serious politics and serious people,” said Mr Flynn.”I think the public would be reassured by his presence. I think the party would be united by his presence, and I think that can only be a good thing for Scotland as a whole,” he added.Liz Lloyd, Ms Sturgeon’s former chief of staff, suggested that a coronation rather than a leadership contest might be desirable.”If they can get that sorted quickly and get back to the bread-and-butter basics that people care about, then I think there’s potential for the SNP to stop the decline in the polls,” she told BBC News.Could that be Mr Swinney, MSP for North Perthshire?He is a member of the …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnGetty ImagesBy James Cook, Scotland Editor & Natalie HigginsBBC NewsA minority government scrambling for support might look chaotic but the Scottish Parliament was designed to encourage rival parties to do deals.The vision for devolution was to get away from the adversarial atmosphere of Westminster, using a different electoral system to allow smaller parties a bigger voice and to encourage consensus.There was no sign of that on Monday when Humza Yousaf announced his resignation after clumsily ending a power-sharing arrangement with the Scottish Greens, ejecting them from his government.With 63 MSPs to the opposition’s 65, that left him trying to secure support to carry on in office, a task made more urgent by the tabling of motions of no confidence in his leadership and his government.The Glasgow Pollok MSP tried to persuade the scorned Greens to back him, to no avail; rejected a deal with the sole MSP from Alex Salmond’s Alba party; and, facing a humiliating parliamentary defeat, promptly announced his resignation.Race begins to relace Humza Yousaf as SNP leaderWho is John Swinney, front-runner to be the next first ministerWho might replace Humza Yousaf as SNP leader?It has not always been so difficult. Handled well, minority government has worked at Holyrood before. Both Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon presided over Scottish National Party (SNP) administrations which relied on opposition support. Now though, the acrimonious collapse of the pact with the Greens has exposed divisions not just within the parliament in Edinburgh but within the SNP itself over independence strategy, economic policy and social issues such as gender healthcare.On top of those troubles the party is under the shadow of a police investigation into its finances which has seen former chief executive Peter Murrell, the husband of Ms Sturgeon, charged by police.Who will inherit these challenges?Perhaps John Swinney, who led the SNP two decades ago?He has packed a lot of politics into his 60 years, joining the SNP at the age of 15.PA MediaMr Swinney has been a member of the Scottish Parliament since Tony Blair’s Labour Party devolved power to Edinburgh a quarter of a century ago.Among the potential contenders for the SNP leadership, Mr Swinney’s experience is unrivalled.He has a decade as finance secretary, six years running the education department and a nine-year stint as Nicola Sturgeon’s deputy first minister under his belt.If it is experience you want, Mr Swinney is hard to beat, although there are arguably two John Swinneys.In public he has been a doughty defender of independence, a parliamentary performer not averse to barracking and heckling his political opponents.In short, tribal. And yet, behind the scenes, he is that rare figure in politics, a man widely regarded by friend and foe alike as decent, kind and honest.Many senior colleagues in the SNP are urging him to run, hopeful that he can provide both stability and wisdom after 39-year-old Humza Yousaf’s brief, and often troubled, tenure.PA MediaThey include Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, Energy Secretary Màiri McAllan and Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth.”These are serious times and serious times demand serious politics and serious people,” said Mr Flynn.”I think the public would be reassured by his presence. I think the party would be united by his presence, and I think that can only be a good thing for Scotland as a whole,” he added.Liz Lloyd, Ms Sturgeon’s former chief of staff, suggested that a coronation rather than a leadership contest might be desirable.”If they can get that sorted quickly and get back to the bread-and-butter basics that people care about, then I think there’s potential for the SNP to stop the decline in the polls,” she told BBC News.Could that be Mr Swinney, MSP for North Perthshire?He is a member of the …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
