SNP leadership challenge & Humza Yousaf resignation & England’s best face-off in Champions League semi-finals
Editorial 30 April 2024.
Many of Tuesday’s newspaper leads on the resignation of Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf. He resigned ahead of two votes of no-confidence – one in him and another in his government, which was due next week, and unlikely he’d survive.
Both the Scottish and English papers lead on the SNP chaos, with the English papers focusing on his resignation and speech, whilst the Scottish papers are looking ahead at his successor.
The back pages look at the Premier League title race as well as Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid – all English teams may be out the competition now – but two of England’s biggest stars: Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane are set to light up the European stage as they face each other for a place in the final.
SNP leadership challenge
The Scottish and English editions of the Times say the SNP faces a bitter leadership contest which bolsters Labour and Sir Keir Starmer’s dreams of Np 10.
The Scottish Daily Mail claims the Union is safe for an entire generation as “hapless SNP can’t run a government led alone a country.” The paper claims independence dreams have died with Yousaf.
The Daily Record predicts a “Brutal Battle For Brute House” between former deputy leader, John Swinney and former Finance Secretary Kate Forbes. The paper’s political editor describes Yousaf as a “broken man” – referring to his resignation speech.
The Scottish Sun says Nicola Sturgeon’s former right-hand man, John Swinney, is the favourite to take over from Yousaf. A senior SNP insider told the paper that a vote for Kate Forves is a vote for an early Holyrood election because the Scottish Greens would not support her minority government.
The Scotsman describes Yousaf’s decision, last Thursday, to scrap the SNP’s deal with the Greens as an extraordinary miscalculation that will go down in Holyrood history. The paper says he made the decision to resign on Sunday after a meeting with his closest advisers A source said there was a “pretty strong consensus” that the other option – a deal with Alex Salmond’s Alba Party – was a non-starter.
Many of the English papers also lead on the latest from Holyrood.
Humza Yousaf resignation
The Guardian also says Swinney is the favourite, and a number of bookmakers have stopped taking bets on him. The Metro’s headline says: “You’ve only got Yousaf to blame”.
The FT has “Yousaf triggers turmoil. The front page says the SNP is seeking a new start ahead of the looming election. It adds the new leader will face challenges from Labour.
The i newspaper says Labour is plotting to sweep Scotland after ‘SNP implosion’. The Independent says Yousaf ‘jumped before he was pushed’ and notes the SNP mess is a gift for Labour.
Away from Scottish politics, several newspapers lead on domestic news in England.
The Sun reports on one of the victims of the Nottingham stabbing, saying her parents want her to be awarded the George Cross – she died trying to protect her friend from the stabbing. The Daily Mirror leads on the stabbing death of an elderly man in London.