Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s departing first minister, and the art of the resignation speech

By Colin Alexander, Senior Lecturer in Political Communications, Nottingham Trent University

Humza Yousaf’s resignation as first minister of Scotland was, in the end, expected, after a chain of events made his position untenable. It was trailed from early in the morning that he would be resigning, so when he finally addressed the media at lunchtime, there was no sense of shock in the room.

The departure speeches of government leaders are of course as varied as the reasons for which they are given. But there are consistencies across the genre, too.

Such speeches are usually between about 12 and 20 minutes long and follow what is crudely called the “turd sandwich”…

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