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The Bute House Agreement, officially the Cooperation Agreement between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Green Party Parliamentary Group was a power-sharing agreement between the Scottish National Party (SNP) government and the Scottish Greens which was agreed in August 2021 to support the Third Sturgeon government and then was reaffirmed to support the First Yousaf government.
The Agreement detailed the way in which the Scottish Government and the Green Group in Parliament worked together, the appointment of Green ministers, excluded policy areas from the Agreement, confidence and supply and dispute resolution.[1] The agreement was accompanied by a shared policy programme, which sets out in detail where the two decided to collaborate.[2]
On 31 August 2021, the SNP and Greens entered a power-sharing arrangement which resulted in the appointment of two Green MSPs as junior ministers in the government, delivery of a shared policy platform, and Green support for the government on votes of confidence and supply.[3][4] There was no agreement on oil and gas exploration, but the government now argued that it had a stronger case for a national independence referendum.[5]
The agreement was a key part of the 2023 SNP leadership election, with candidates Kate Forbes and Ash Regan critical of it, while Humza Yousaf was supportive.[6] Following Yousaf's victory, he initially maintained the agreement during his first ministry. On 25 April 2024, following a meeting at Bute House, it was decided by First Minister Yousaf that the power sharing agreement would come to an end with immediate effect.[7] The resulting government crisis led to Yousaf's resignation.
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