A MOTION of no confidence in the Scottish Government lodged by Labour has failed at Holyrood.
Party leader Anas Sarwar put forward the motion arguing it would be “untenable” for the SNP to “impose yet another unelected first minister” on Scotland.
He said Labour’s push to unseat the Government was due to both a “democratic deficit” and the “chaotic, divided and dysfunctional” SNP.
But a total of 70 MSPs voted against the motion, while just 58 voted for it. There were no abstentions.
Alba's Ash Regan voted with the Tories, Labour and LibDems to bring down the Government.
"The vote was purely performative and in many ways irrelevant," said Alba's general secretary.
The result of the vote was met with rapturous applause from the SNP benches.
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During his statement, Sarwar hit out at the two frontrunners to be first minister, pointing to reports suggesting Kate Forbes could struggle to appoint ministers and describing John Swinney as “the finance secretary that broke the public finances and the worst education secretary in the history of the Scottish Parliament”.
He added: “It would be untenable for the SNP to impose yet another unelected first minister on our country, especially in these circumstances.
“Let me remind the chamber what Nicola Sturgeon said when Rishi Sunak replaced Liz Truss as Prime Minister.
“She said we couldn’t have a revolving door at Downing Street, that the office of prime minister was not the play thing of one political party and that it would be a democratic outrage if it didn’t go to an election and for the people to decide.
“If that’s the principle that the SNP rightly applied to Westminster and the UK, why do they now hold Scotland to a lower standard?”
Sarwar's comments came despite the new Welsh Labour first minister getting the role without a public election.
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross – whose party also voted in favour of the no-confidence motion – added “we want to see the SNP government removed and will look to use every opportunity to do so.”
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But outgoing First Minister Humza Yousaf defended his Government’s record as he accused Labour of going back on its political principles.
The SNP leader told MSPs: “I am proud of the record of the Government I have the honour of leading, at least for a little while longer.”
He added that in the 13 months he has spent as First Minister he had not “heard a single positive idea” from Labour.
He continued: “The true vote of no confidence that the people of Scotland really need, and they deserve, is a vote of no confidence in this failing, miserable Union that is holding Scotland back and inflicting damage on the people and the economy of this country.”
During the debate, Ross was forced to apologise to Swinney after he referred to the former deputy first minister as “not so honest John”.
Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone stopped Ross to demand he apologise for the remarks.
When Johnstone reminded him not to use nicknames, he said: “Oh sorry, I thought it was on accuracy because it would be not so honest John with some of the things we’ve heard recently.”
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