A Scottish Conservatives bid to force John Swinney from office looks set to fail after the Greens announced they would vote against it.
The Tories tabled a motion of no confidence in the Deputy First Minister at Holyrood today following an ongoing row about the disclosure of evidence to the Alex Salmond Inquiry.
Scottish Parliament bosses confirmed a vote could go ahead tomorrow but just moments later the Greens announced they would refuse to back it.
The Conservatives argue that Swinney should resign after waiting four months to publish legal advice regarding the botched handling of complaints made against Alex Salmond in 2018.
MSPs twice voted for the legal advice to be published but it was shared - in partial form - last week when the threat of a no motion confidence vote was first threatened.
Despite the row, Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said his party would not vote down Swinney.
He said: “The Scottish Greens will always defend the integrity of the Scottish Parliament, and that is why we backed the call for John Swinney to release evidence that the Harassment Committee and Parliament had asked for.
“That evidence clearly showed the Scottish Government had failed the women who came forward, and this, rather than opportunistic political theatre, should be the focus. The Tories called it a screeching U-turn last week, but this week they still want a political scalp to show for it.
"The evidence provided cannot be both the bombshell revelation they claimed, and at the same time inadequate to draw conclusions on the issues that matter.
“It’s clear from this naked attempt to undermine our democratic institutions and from the line of questioning from their committee members that the Scottish Conservatives have no interest in making sure women are supported coming forward with complaints in the future.
"For them, this vote of no confidence is a pathetic political game just weeks ahead of an election in which they have nothing positive to offer the people of Scotland."
Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross said the lack of support for the vote from the Greens is proof the party will “let the (Scottish Government) away with anything”.
He said: “Their cause always comes first – and that’s independence, not the environment. Their true colours are not green, they are SNP yellow.
“Patrick Harvie is back in his happy place – Nicola Sturgeon’s pocket. The Greens have shown they are too weak to stand up to the SNP and support the position they already set out in two votes of the Scottish Parliament.
“The case for the vote of no confidence in John Swinney is clear to any impartial observer. We can no longer trust him to do the right thing. He has abused his power to cover up crucial evidence.”
The Scottish Lib Dems have said they will vote in favour of the motion, with leader Willie Rennie saying Swinney must be “reprimanded” for his behaviour.
“The Deputy First Minister’s shabby treatment of parliament cannot be ignored,” he said.
Rennie added: “Anyone who values this parliament must vote to reprimand the Deputy First Minister’s behaviour.”
The Salmond Inquiry met in private today to consider its next steps.
It was formed last year to investigate how the Scottish Government managed to botch an internal complaints process which ended up costing the taxpayer more than £500,000.
Two women made allegations of impropriety against Salmond dating back to his time as SNP leader.
He denied the claims and sought a judicial review of the complaints process, claiming it was biased against him.
Judges agreed with Salmond that the complaints system was botched and the government was forced to pick up his legal fees.
Both the former first minister and his successor, Nicola Sturgeon gave evidence in recent weeks to the Inquiry.
Salmond has alleged he was the victim of a conspiracy aimed at ending his role in public life - claims dismissed by Sturgeon and the SNP.
