Humza Yousaf is gone – and Labour can’t believe its luck

The Scottish first minister has resigned – and the SNP turmoil is the gift that keeps on giving for Keir Starmer, writes Andrew Grice. Labour now hopes to get as close to 40 per cent of the Scottish vote as possible

Now, after a miserable year as first minister, the man dubbed ‘Humza Useless’ has resigned (Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)

For Keir Starmer, the road to Downing Street has always run through Scotland. Until a year ago, Labour had a proverbial mountain to climb north of the border: in the country it once dominated, it had just one MP (now up to two after the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election).

Then Nicola Sturgeon resigned as first minister and was succeeded by Humza Yousaf. Then amid remarkable scenes, Sturgeon was arrested by police investigating the Scottish National Party’s funding and finances. She has not been charged, but her husband Peter Murrell, the SNP’s former chief executive, has been charged with embezzlement.

The cloud of the police inquiry was not the SNP’s only problem; many voters appeared to tire of it after its long spell and questionable record in power in Edinburgh since 2007. So it was little wonder that Labour, the opposition in the Scottish parliament, drew level with the SNP in the opinion polls.