Yousaf Resigns As SNP Head, Will Remain As FM Until New Leader Elected

As expected, Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf has resigned as leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) following his dissolution of the governing coalition in Scotland that left him vulnerable to a no-confidence vote. Yousaf has said that he will remain as FM in a caretaker capacity until the SNP has elected a new leader.

• For more detail see 1033BST bullet 'SCOTLAND: FM Yousaf Presser @1200BST, Could Resign Following Gov't Collapse'. As noted previously, Yousaf's resignation will not have any significant market impact in the short term. However, the political chaos engulfing the SNP (overwhelmingly dominant in Scottish politics for ~15 years), at the same time as UK PM Rishi Sunak's Conservatives trailing significantly in opinion polling further cements the main oppostion centre-left Labour party's position as strong favourites to lead the next UK gov't.