Dundee’s Humza Yousaf won’t be first minister for much longer after his resignation on Monday – but what do locals make of his exit?
We asked residents in the city centre if they were surprised to see him go, if they were glad about his departure, and what they reckon comes next.
Here were their thoughts as the dust settles.
‘I’m not surprised’
There was a consensus among Mr Yousaf’s supporters and detractors that his time was up in the top job after a turbulent week.
The outgoing SNP leader ditched the Greens from his government, which left him without enough support to survive in parliament.
“I think it’s pretty inevitable after what happened with the Bute House Agreement,” said David Crutchley, 75, who lives in Dundee city centre. “I’m not surprised.”
David added: “I think he’s a nice guy, an honest guy, and I quite like him, but not great as a first minister.”
Asked how he would rate the outgoing first minister out of ten, he said: “Probably a five.”
The Dundee pensioner reckons Kate Forbes – who was defeated by Mr Yousaf in last year’s leadership contest – would be a better option to replace him than Perthshire’s John Swinney.
He said: “I think she’s more competent. She knows her stuff. She comes across well. I think she’d be a popular choice.”
‘I’m not a fan’
Fellow Dundonian Alastair MacDougall was not shocked by the first minister’s departure either – and reckons tough times lie ahead for the SNP.
“I wasn’t a fan. It doesn’t surprise me,” he told us.
“I’d like John Swinney to take over, and that way they [the SNP] will definitely get put out,” he joked.
He added: “I think in the next general election, they’re in for a big shock.”
‘He’s failed in everything’
Few people in Dundee welcomed Mr Yousaf’s exit more than lifelong resident George Giblin, aged 77.
“I think it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to Scotland,” he gleefully told us.
Rating his performance out of 10, George said: “I’d give him a zero. He’s failed in everything.”
George is also unimpressed by the prospect of Mr Swinney – a former SNP leader – succeeding Mr Yousaf.
He said: “It would just be more of the same,” adding he would like to see a Holyrood election as soon as possible.
‘I just feel terribly sad for him’
But not everyone was so pleased by the Dundee-based first minister’s decision to quit on Monday.
SNP supporter Helen Campbell, 62, said: “I just feel terribly sad for him. I felt that he was doing quite a good job.”
On rating him, she added: “I would have given him seven. He wasn’t Nicola, but I think he performed quite well.”
Helen, from Monikie, believes Mr Swinney is the best option to replace the outgoing SNP leader.
She told us: “I thought it would be nice for him to get a shot at it.”
The SNP supporter was less positive about Ms Forbes saying: “I know that she’s a Christian, but I feel sometimes it’s a little too right-wing, some of her views.”
‘He wasn’t doing a very good job’
Labour supporter Jim Cunningham, also from Dundee, took a negative view of Mr Yousaf’s time in power.
He said: “He wasn’t doing a very good job. Sturgeon I had a wee bit of time for, but Humza? Not for me.”
Jim reckoned Ms Forbes would have done a better job had she won the SNP leadership contest last March.
He said: “She would have been a threat to the Labour Party.”
‘He had a lot of handicaps’
Donald Hay, 62, an ex-Tory councillor in Dundee’s west end, took a more balanced perspective, even though he reckoned Mr Yousaf had to go.
Mr Hay lost his seat in 2022, in a contest which included Mr Yousaf’s wife Nadia El-Nakla.
He said: “I don’t think I’m very surprised after the way he treated the Greens.
“He had a lot of handicaps before he even started. He’s probably done the best that he could do.”
But should it come to a vote between Mr Swinney and Ms Forbes, Donald pointed out only a narrow band of SNP members will have a say.
He said: “Whatever I think is really not important, it’s what the SNP think. It’s a bit of a lucky dip.”
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