Nicola Sturgeon to face vote of no confidence on Tuesday

But following input from the SNP and Greens, the crucial Holyrood vote will now take place on Tuesday - with the Tories accusing SNP members on the committee investigating the handling of complaints against Alex Salmond of "increasingly intemperate and disrespectful outbursts".

Ms Sturgeon has been cleared of breaking the ministerial code following an independent investigation by James Hamilton, examining her actions in relation to the complaints against Mr Salmond.

READ MORE: Exclusive poll: SNP set for knife-edge majority in Holyrood vote

The Conservatives would need the support of all other opposition parties, including the Scottish Greens, in order to be successful in the no confidence motion.

But the Greens have confirmed they will not support a vote of no confidence in Ms Sturgeon after she was cleared of breaking the ministerial code in the independent report by Mr Hamilton.

Green co-leader Patrick Harvie said that "Mr Hamilton has clearly concluded that the First Minister did not breach the ministerial code, so we will not support the vote of no confidence being pushed by the Tories".

He added: “In lodging a vote of no confidence before this report was published, just as they called for the First Minister's resignation before she even gave evidence to the parliamentary committee, the Tories have shown that they have no interest in establishing the truth."

The Tories have called for Ms Sturgeon to resign as First Minister, claiming she has broken the code of conduct - with the cross-party Holyrood inquiry expected to publish its report on whether it believes Ms Sturgeon broke the code of conduct on Tuesday morning .

Scottish Conservative chief whip, Miles Briggs, said: "We had hoped to hold the vote on Wednesday but that has now been brought forward to Tuesday.

"The SNP have been complaining that we acted hastily and did not given MSPs time to look at the evidence.

"But pressing ahead on Tuesday make it less likely that MSPs will have time to consider the Salmond Inquiry findings.

"This demonstrates they are in a flap. They clearly expect the Salmond report to be damning, as seen by their increasingly intemperate and disrespectful outbursts towards committee members.

"The nationalists will do everything possible to undermine Parliament and dodge accountability.

"But no matter what strokes they pull, the evidence is clear that Sturgeon repeatedly mislead parliament and must resign."

According to Sky News, the leaked report by the Holyrood committee also finds it “hard to believe” Ms Sturgeon’s testimony of when she first heard about concerns relating to the former first minister’s alleged behaviour.

The SNP leader’s spokesman said she stands by her evidence and accused the committee of resorting to “baseless assertion, supposition and smear”.

In her evidence to the committee, Ms Sturgeon said she first became aware of any potential inappropriate conduct by her predecessor after a media inquiry in November 2017 about an alleged incident in 2013 involving female Edinburgh Airport staff.

MSPs on the committee reportedly believe Ms Sturgeon knew of concerns about Mr Salmond’s conduct before this and should have acted.

Further leaks suggest the committee’s report, due to be published on Tuesday, states a majority of members are “concerned” it took Ms Sturgeon two months to tell the head of Scotland’s civil service she knew about the investigation.

A spokesman for the First Minister said some opposition members “appear intent on breaking every rule in the book in a blatantly transparent attempt to damage her before the coming election”.

He added: “The latest leak from the committee, suggesting they find it hard to believe that the First Minister did not previously know about inappropriate behaviour on the part of Alex Salmond, is not supported by a single shred of evidence.

“Sadly, she is not the first woman let down by a man she once trusted to face that charge, and regrettably she is unlikely to be the last.

“On this, the committee appears to have resorted to baseless assertion, supposition and smear – that is not how serious parliamentary committees are supposed to work, and in behaving this way they are simply exposing their base political motives.

"It was clear from the actions of the Tories several weeks ago, when they announced plans for a motion of confidence before they had even heard a word of evidence from the First Minister, that for them this committee was never a serious exercise in learning lessons on behalf of women who bring forward complaints of sexual harassment – it was only ever about politics.”