Bute House Agreement now in question

The future of the Bute House Agreement appears to be in question as Scottish Green Party members prepare to vote on whether it should continue.

The powersharing deal with the SNP brought Green ministers into government for the first time in the UK.

Here are a few of the key questions about the agreement:

How was the Bute House Agreement formed?

After the May 2021 Scottish Parliament elections, Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP emerged as the largest party but without an overall majority.

The Scottish Greens won their best-ever result with eight MSPs, enough to give the two pro-independence parties a working majority at Holyrood.

Negotiations began soon after the election and the deal cleared its final hurdle at the end of August 2021 when Green members voted yes to it – with 1,169 members (83%) backing the deal, 234 voting against and nine abstaining.

What did the two parties agree to do? Scottish Green co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater both entered government as ministers – between them their portfolios include tenants’ rights, the heat in buildings strategy, the circular economy and biodiversity. Alongside the text of the Bute House Agreement, which sets out the expectations for each party, a shared policy programme for their time in government was published.

However, it also set out 10 areas where the two parties could continue to disagree includng aviation policy, green freeports, the defence sector and economic principles related to concepts of sustainable growth. What if one side wants to end the deal? The deal is meant to last for the current session of the Scottish Parliament and can be ended earlier by either the first minister or the Green co-leaders writing to the other party.

However, the leaderships of both parties are in favour of seeing the deal through to the next election.

Why are some in the SNP unhappy about the agreement?

Humza Yousaf won the SNP leadership contest to succeed Nicola Sturgeon in March 2023 with a strong commitment to continue the Bute House Agreement.

Some in the party, though, blame the Greens for unpopular policies which are dragging down the public’s perception of the Scottish Government and want to see the agreement reviewed or scrapped.