A motion aimed to bring down the government had been tabled by Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar. It was backed by the Tories and Lib Dems but the Green group opted to keep faith with their nationalist allies. The motion was defeated by 70 votes to 58. A Tory motion against Mr Yousaf himself was withdrawn earlier in the week after he announced his intention to step down once a new SNP leader – likely to be either John Swinney or Kate Forbes – was elected.

Meanwhile, speaking in Parliament during the motion of no confidence in the Scottish Government, Scottish Liberal Democrat Willie Rennie MSP, pictured right,  said:  “This government is fond of saying that it’s the best, the best in the UK.

“Now, the best, I don’t think, is how you could judge the view of the single mother in my constituency who went without food in order to pay for her private dental bills because she couldn’t get an NHS dentist.

“Or the elderly man I met who was wincing with pain because his operation was delayed once again for his hip operation.

“Or the classroom assistant who had a broken wrist right in front of me because she had a violent incident with a pupil in a class. Or the islanders who are desperately waiting for a reliable ferry service.

“They’re not saying that this is the best, but this government is riddled with complacency. It believes that, somehow, because we’re marginally better on some occasions than the Conservative government that, somehow, we should be grateful for the performance of this government.

“We need a renewed mandate for this Parliament and that is why we should have an election.”

• The speeches made by Labour’s Anas Sarwar and Conservative leader Douglas Ross are included in today’s Democrat.