THE First Minister’s resignation starts Holyrood’s process of transition.

The Cabinet backed Humza Yousaf in ending the Bute House Agreement: the focus is SNP Government priorities including a further £80 million for affordable housing and lifting 100,000 children out of poverty.

The Scottish Government respects trans people’s rights, but gender reform – crucial for a minority – is not more important for the majority than the cost-of-living crisis, the NHS, affordable housing or education.

The SNP and the Greens are separate political parties. In asserting the SNP’s determination to prioritise the main concerns of the Scottish people, Humza Yousaf knew that the political arithmetic might not be on his side; he’s right to accept responsibility for possibly unintended consequences of his actions.

History will remember him as the first ethnic minority First Minister, who was dealt a difficult hand and showed courage and leadership over Gaza, and unwavering commitment to fairness and equality.

Political opportunism prompted ‘no confidence’ votes. When Scotland’s interests needed putting first, Scottish Labour, Tories and Lib Dems immediately reverted to the Better Together pro-Unionist alliance. Let’s be clear: the SNP has 63 MSPs, 43 MPs and 453 councillors who believe unequivocally that Scotland’s future is as an independent country in the EU.

Douglas Ross described Humza Yousaf seeking common ground with other parties as “embarrassing and humiliating”. The only person embarrassed should be Mr Ross for not understanding how Holyrood works. Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and 16 EU countries use the D’Hondt electoral system designed to make a parliamentary majority almost impossible to achieve.

Consensus and coalition-building are normal. Whoever is First Minister will seek agreements to deliver good government, not as the “act of desperation” Labour’s Jackie Baillie claimed but because Scotland’s constitutional framework demands it. Proportional representation is the democratic force resisting far-right politics across Europe, underpinning the opposite of extremism.

The new First Minister will build a transparent consensus in Scotland’s interests without tolerating interventions from ego-driven personalities. Scotland needs rational, compassionate politics, not the ambitious self-interest of those hovering on the political fringes.