Scottish National Party Collapse Power-Sharing Agreement With Greens

First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf during First Minster’s Questions at the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood, Edinburgh. Picture date: Thursday April 18, 2024. 75916184 (Press Association via AP Images)

The Scottish National Party (SNP) has collapsed its coalition with the Scottish Greens in a split that stems from deep-seated disagreements over Scotland’s climate ambitions.

Under a 2021 power-sharing agreement the Scottish Greens had two MSPs acting as junior ministers within the SNP cabinet. It’s believed that First Minister Humza Yousaf has now fired those two ministers and collapsed the coalition, meaning the SNP will lead as a minority government.

The Greens had been set to review the coalition agreement themselves, after the devolved government back-pedalled on its commitment to slash carbon emissions by 75 percent by 2030. The climate issue, coupled with ongoing disputes over gender recognition laws and infrastructure projects, led to increasing tension within the coalition.

However,the SNP pulled the trigger first and abandoned the coalition in an emergency cabinet session called by Yousaf on Thursday.

Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater slammed the SNP for “selling out future generations to appease the most reactionary forces in the country.”

Criticism also came from the Scottish Conservative chair, Craig Hoy, who described the coalition’s collapse as a severe blow to Yousaf’s credibility.