Dr Coree Brown Swan, a lecturer in British politics at Stirling University, talks us through the process after Humza Yousaf’s resignation as first minister.
Speaking to Good Morning Scotland on BBC Radio Scotland, Swan thinks that Yousaf refraining from resignation with immediate effect is “very important”.
“It means that the 28 day countdown for the parliament to choose the new first minister has not yet been triggered.”
“It’s now up to the SNP’s National Executive Council. They will decide the timeline of the leadership election and it looks like the nominations are now open. If there is more than one candidate, there will be a leadership contest so the members will have their vote. If there is only one candidate they still get the nominations, but it doesn’t go out to the members for the vote,” she explains.
When asked about a possible Scottish parliamentary election this year, Swan answers “I don’t think at this point there would be any attempt to spark such an election this year.”