MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Scotland's political system in the process of nominating a new First Minister

Yousaf said he will resign as FM once a new leader is chosen. At that point, parliament will have 28 days to nominate a new first minister to be appointed by the King.

Potential successors to outgoing Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf who announced his resignation on Monday, after a let down from the Greens, and fearing two no confidence votes, have been meeting to consider bids for the leadership of SNP. They are John Swinney and Kate Forbes who have yet to confirm their aspirations.

 News of the meeting emerged on Wednesday. “We can confirm Kate spoke to John yesterday,” a spokesperson for Ms Forbes, the former finance secretary, said, as published in the Scottish media..

“It was a purely informal meeting. Kate is continuing to weigh up whether to run and is grateful for the growing outpouring of support.”

Speaking earlier, Ms Forbes said she “fundamentally disagreed” with any suggestion she would not have enough parliamentary party support to become SNP leader, having narrowly lost out to Mr. Yousaf in last year's contest to replace Nicola Sturgeon.

Ms Forbes said she was “listening just now and not ruling anything out”.

While Mr Swinney, the former deputy first minister, told reporters at Holyrood: “I will not be rushed into making decisions that affect my loved ones.”

He denied there was a standoff between potential leadership candidates.

“It's about people taking the time to make the right decisions for those they love,” he said.

Nominations for the SNP leadership opened on Monday and close one week later. If more than one candidate receives 100 nominations from at least 20 local party branches, a ballot will be held among members to choose a new leader.

Mr. Yousaf has said he will resign as first minister once a new leader is chosen. At that point, parliament will have 28 days to nominate a new first minister to be appointed by the King.

If MSPs cannot reach an agreement after 28 days, a snap election would be called.

Yousaf said he would remain as first minister until the SNP elected a successor as its leader 30. In his resignation speech Yousaf said that “as a young boy, born and raised in Scotland, I could never have dreamt that one day I would have the privilege of leading my country.”

“People like me were not in positions of political influence, let alone leading governments when I was younger.” But now we live in a UK that has a British Hindu prime minister, a Muslim mayor of London, a Black Welsh first minister and, for a little while longer, a Scots Asian first minister.”