Humza Yousaf and the SNP's curious stance on the monarchy

Humza Yousaf, the frontrunner in the contest to replace Nicola Sturgeon, says Scotland could ditch the monarchy if it leaves the UK. ‘I’ve been very clear, I’m a republican…Let’s absolutely, within the first five years (of independence), consider whether or not we should move away from having a monarchy into an elected head of state,’ he told the National.

Yousaf is seen as the SNP’s continuity candidate. But his pop at the monarchy marks a sea change from the official line under his predecessor, Nicola Sturgeon: that an independent Scotland should retain the institution. As the coronation of King Charles on 6 May approaches, this difference, with the potential for another split in the party, takes on a more than theoretical interest.

Given the close links between Scotland and the monarchy forged after Queen Victoria purchased Balmoral Castle where Queen Elizabeth II died in September, the cautious SNP stance is understandable. But the republican spirit among radical nationalists is dormant, not dead, and a sacred symbol of their focus is a 150kg rectangular block of sandstone known as the Stone of Scone, or more romantically the stone of destiny.