Scotland's first minister Humza Yousaf announced his resignation Monday ahead of two confidence votes this week sparked by his ditching of junior coalition partners in a row over climate policy.
The 39-year-old quit following a turbulent year as head of the Scottish government, during which support for his pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) has fallen.
Yousaf said he had "underestimated" the hurt he had caused by ending a power-sharing deal with the Scottish Greens in the Scottish parliament last week, AFP reported
His government had earlier abandoned ambitious targets for the transition to net-zero carbon emissions, angering the Greens.
The opposition Scottish Conservatives then lodged a vote of no-confidence in Yousaf, which was set for Wednesday and which the first minister was at risk of losing.
Scottish Labour lodged another no-confidence vote against his government.
The Tories, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Greens all said they would vote against Yousaf in the personal vote, forcing him to seek the backing of the sole lawmaker from the pro-independence Alba party.
Yousaf -- the first Muslim leader of a major UK political party -- told reporters at his official residence that he thought winning was "absolutely possible".
But he added that he was "not willing to trade in my values or principles or do deals with whomever simply for retaining power".
"I have concluded that repairing our relationships across the political divide can only be done with someone else at the helm," Yousaf said.
Yousaf became Scotland's leader 13 months ago, after Nicola Sturgeon announced her surprise resignation after eight years in the job.
He won a bruising contest that exposed splits in the party between those on the left wing and others closer to the right.
Yousaf said he would continue as first minister until a successor was elected "in order to ensure a smooth and orderly transition", adding that the contest should start "as soon as possible".
