Humza Yousaf officially resigned as First Minister this afternoon, giving an emotional address in Holyrood.
He said it has been "an honour and a privilege" to serve the people of Scotland.
Yousaf, who resigned last month, said his "time as First Minister is over".
He added that he has "deep respect for this parliament and to all of those in opposition and indeed to my own colleagues here alongside me.
Humza Yousaf officially resigned as First Minister this afternoon, giving an emotional address in Holyrood
PA
"That respect will always continue to be here."
Yousaf resigned after ending the powersharing deal between the SNP and Scottish Greens last week.
He was facing one vote of no confidence tabled by the Scottish Conservatives, while Scottish Labour had tabled a second vote of no confidence in the Scottish Government as a whole.
Announcing his intention to resign, the outgoing First Minister admitted to having “underestimated” the level of hurt ending the power-sharing deal with the Greens would have.
The outgoing first minister used his final speech in Holyrood to thank those who supported him and shown kindness over the years.
He said: “Let me offer thanks to every single colleague across the political divide for the kindnesses that you have shown me over the years.
“We often, and I’m guilty of this too, lament the toxic nature of our political debate and it’s true, there is entrenched tribalism that feels difficult to free ourselves from.
“However I will remember far more fondly the kindness and generosity of colleagues over the years.”
Yousaf continued: “I’ve had the greatest privilege of my life serving my country in government for almost 12 years, as minister for external affairs and international development, minister for transport, cabinet secretary for justice, cabinet secretary for health and social care and of course most recently as first minister.
“So my thanks must go to the people who gave me that opportunity by electing me to this place, the good people of Glasgow in 2011 and the fine people of Glasgow Pollok since 2016 who have continued to put their trust in me to stand up for them and to serve them.
“And also to my predecessors as first minister for giving this boy opportunities he could only have imagined in his wildest dreams.
“I’m grateful for the trust that you put in me over the years, because you see presiding officer a young Humza Yousaf could never have imagined that he would be able to lead this country.
“I was six years old when I was first told to go home, and I’m afraid since then it has been a regular occurrence, in fact almost daily if you look at my social media feeds and I won’t lie presiding officer, it is that racial slur that probably hurts me the most.”
He also used his speech to plead for a ceasefire in Gaza.
He said: “I cannot let today’s remarks go by without pleading one last time from the frontbenches for the international community to stop any further massacre of the innocent people of Gaza.
“A full-scale invasion of Rafah, home to 1.4 million people, 600,000 children, will only result in the slaughter of more innocent civilians in what is likely to be one of the clearest violations of international law to date.
“A clear signal must be sent to the Israeli Government that to defy the international community in this way will come with significant consequence and sanction.
“Everything possible must be done to demand an immediate ceasefire, a release of all the hostages and an end to arms sales to Israel. We must be on the right side of history and that must mean standing with innocent men, women and children. To do otherwise would be unforgivable.”
