Scotland’s Transport Minister, Kevin Stewart has resigned, having only been in office since March, citing health reasons for his departure.

Dear Humza

I am writing to you with a heavy heart to resign as your government’s Minister for Transport.

It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve the people of Scotland in three ministerial positions under the leadership of Nicola Sturgeon and yourself and I do hope that I have made a positive difference for our people and our country.

Since last October I have had bouts of poor mental health, with a low ebb in early December of last year.  Over the last week or so I have once again been feeling unwell and I feel that I can no longer put in the hours required to serve both my constituents and hold ministerial office, whilst also trying to maintain good mental health. I do hope that you understand.

You can be assured that I will continue to serve my Aberdeen Central constituents to the very best of my ability and will continue to support you and your government from the backbenches.

Yours sincerely

Kevin Stewart

Kevin Stewart was thanked by the First Minister, Humza Yousaf, for his service in the Transport post and the previous ones he held:  Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning from 2016 , and Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care from 2021.

The resignation adds to the Scottish Government’s continued woes over ferry provision, especially on the West Coast routes. Protests have taken place in Lochboisdale, South Uist against CalMac and the Scottish Government for axing South Uist’s lifeline ferry service for four weeks.