WITH Humza Yousaf ending the Bute House Agreement (BHA) and now facing a vote of no confidence the question is: what happens next for the SNP?
The First Minister summoned the two Scottish Green co-leaders to Bute House on Thursday morning and dismissed them from their posts ahead of an emergency cabinet meeting.
The sacking of Harvie and Slater came ahead of a planned Scottish Greens' members vote on if they wished to continue with the power-sharing agreement after a string of disagreements with the SNP over recent polices.
The BHA was established after the May 2021 Scottish Parliament elections when Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP emerged as the largest party, but without an overall majority, as they fell short by one seat.
READ MORE: Humza Yousaf's letter to Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater
The Scottish Greens won their best-ever result with eight MSPs, and it was enough to give the two pro-independence parties a working majority at Holyrood.
The two parties agreed on several policies with the BHA, ranging from climate to housing, as the arrangement meant the Greens would back the SNP in Parliament to successfully pass any legislation that fell within its remit.
The power-sharing deal with the SNP also brought Green ministers into government for the first time in the UK.
With the termination of the BHA, the SNP will be a minority government for the first time in three years.
With the fallout from the termination of the BHA, Yousaf is now facing a Tory-led vote of no-confidence. As the Greens plan to vote against the FM, a victory for the SNP chief is not a certainty.
The parliamentary arithmetic leaves his former party member Ash Regan with potentially a lot of power in the grand scheme of things.
For a full breakdown of how a no-confidence vote could unfold, read it all here.
The ex-SNP minister and current Alba MSP has already said she plans to pen a letter to the First Minister outlining three areas on which her potential support rests.
The National reported earlier Regan would look for a “solid commitment” on advancing her Referendum Bill, which she unveiled late last year.
The sole Alba MSP could be the deciding factor on whether Yousaf remains as the party's leader.
A minority government
Putting the no confidence vote to one side, the SNP now runs a minority government.
Without a formal relationship with another party, the SNP will now need to build a majority on an issue-by-issue basis through negotiations with opposition parties.
Governing with a minority government is something the SNP has managed to do in the past. The party's former leader, Alex Salmond, was able to make a minority work for four years back in 2007.
However, being a minority government means it will be a lot harder for the SNP to pass through any key party policies without the Greens' backing.
The role of prominent SNP rebels, such as Fergus Ewing and Kate Forbes, will be more important now than ever, as even a single vote could swing things in parliament.
It is possible that legislation will be amended by opposition parties or even defeated as the SNP will have to manage expectations on what they will be able to pass.
READ MORE: Is scrapping the Bute House Agreement the right decision?
Going forward the SNP will have to be more strategic with their policies and will need to build effective communication with opposition parties and backbenches to push through any legislation.
There will also likely be questions about Yousaf’s leadership as the party leader and as First Minister after the collapse of the coalition.
He will likely face scrutiny from his own party members, as well as his opposition, over his decision making while in power with the Greens.
The First Minister was adamant in the press conference following the dismissal of Harvie and Slater that he showed leadership in making the decision to end the agreement between the two parties, although there has been widespread speculation that Green members were going to vote to end the BHA.
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