Political situation in Scotland

Analysis: The SNP's dilemma - who wants to take over the party?

Since Humza Yousaf announced on Monday his resignation as leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) and as First Minister, the party is facing a dilemma. An obvious successor is missing, writes The Guardian's Severin Carrell in an analysis.

He singles out John Swinney, deputy prime minister behind Yousaf, as a possible candidate. However, Swinney has previously shown reluctance to take on the job, saying that he is only interested if there are no counter-candidates.

Carrell also mentions Kate Forbes, who challenged Yousaf to succeed Nicola Sturgeon last year. According to Carrell, she would likely win easily if she ran again. But her political positions would make it very difficult for her to form a coalition that would keep the SNP in power, he writes.

The BBC's Georgia Roberts highlights the SNP's leader in the UK Parliament, Stephen Flynn in London as a candidate. He is said to have been the driving force behind Yousaf's decision to break the collaboration with the Scottish Greens, a crime which then forced Yousaf out.

Since he does not sit in the Scottish Parliament, he cannot become prime minister at the moment, but he can take over the party leadership, writes Roberts.

"It seems that he is not interested in the job right now, but the talk about him will continue," she writes.

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Humza Yousaf resigns as Scottish First Minister

Scotland's Prime Minister Humza Yousaf is resigning, he announces at a press conference. The background is that the collaboration between Yousaf's party SNP and the Scottish Greens has collapsed.

The resignation comes as Yousaf faced double no-confidence votes, which he looked unlikely to win.

39-year-old Yousaf succeeded Nicola Sturgeon as Scottish First Minister as recently as last March. He then made history as the first from an ethnic minority to lead one of the British provincial governments and the first Muslim to lead a major British party.

Yousaf will remain in place until a replacement is in place.