First Minister Alex Salmond was forced to sack his education secretary yesterday to avoid dissolving his minority SNP government and calling an election.
The Liberal Democrats claimed ministers threatened to step down from office if there was a no confidence vote in Fiona Hyslop at the Scottish Parliament.
The party, which planned to vote on her performance tomorrow, said the government reminded opposition MSPs of the consequences as late as yesterday morning.
Lib Dem chief whip Mike Rumbles – who alerted ministers to the no-confidence motion on Saturday – said his party was determined to force Mr Salmond’s hand.
Labour leader Iain Gray, who said Mr Salmond’s bluff was called and he “blinked”, said his party would have supported the Lib Dems.
And a spokesman for the Conservatives, who have been calling for Ms Hyslop to be sacked for months, said their MSPs would not have moved to save her.
Mr Rumbles, West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine MSP, and north-east Tory MSP Alex Johnstone, said forcing Mr Salmond into a reshuffle had severely damaged his authority.
Ms Hyslop has swapped roles with Culture and External Affairs Minister Mike Russell, but will take charge of a reduced portfolio.
She has been under fire for the SNP’s failure to reduce primary school class sizes, deliver new school buildings and tackle falling teacher numbers for many months.
Mr Rumbles said the final straw for Lib Dems came on Friday when she warned that responsibility for education could be removed from councils unless they took action to raise teacher numbers.
Mr Salmond, who is taking responsibility for the independence referendum bill, insisted that his Cabinet reshuffle, the first since the SNP came to power in 2007, was not an admission of failure.
“Schools policy has reached a difficult period with our disagreement with many local authorities about their failure to reduce class sizes by sustaining teacher numbers, while we have achieved a new record low in primary school class sizes,” he said.
“It is appropriate that a fresh look is taken at this and other schooling issues to break the impasse for the benefit of parents, teachers and children.
“I believe that Mike Russell can bring new thinking to this tough task.”
Ms Hyslop, who attended a joint ministerial committee meeting in London yesterday – her first engagement in her new role – insisted she had not been sacked.
“I think it is correct that a new minister takes that (new approach to education policy) forward,” she added.
“It is a new stage for the minority government but it is a stage that we are driving forward with real focus.
“I think the first minister is quite correct as we are a minority government and have to move and regroup.”
But Mr Rumbles insisted Mr Salmond was forced to act because he knew he would “lose the vote and face” at Holyrood tomorrow.
“I personally informed the government of this and was threatened that ministers would resign en-masse if we went ahead but it was a disreputable bluff,” he added.
“The fact is Fiona Hyslop was pushed before she lost the vote and the first minister knew the game was up.”
Mr Johnstone described Ms Hyslop as an ineffectual education secretary, adding: “Alex Salmond appears no longer to be the one making the primary decisions.
“His actions are now being dictated by events and that is a sign of weakness in a political leader.”
Highlands and Islands Labour MSP Peter Peacock, a former education minister, said Ms Hyslop paid the price for a catalogue of failures.
“Alex Salmond had to find someone to sacrifice and take the blame,” he added.
“The truth is it is his whole approach to funding councils and national policies that is the problem and for that he is responsible.”
Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland, said he hoped Mr Russell would now rebuild trust and create a relationship with councils and schools which would help children and teachers.
Mr Salmond’s spokesman said Ms Hyslop, whose salary will drop from £96,259 a year to £83,347, was an able and capable minister who made a “formidable contribution” as education secretary.
He said her successes included boosting apprenticeship numbers, increasing university funding levels and investment in colleges.
Ronnie Smith, general secretary of teaching union the EIS, said he looked forward to working with Mr Russell.
The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, which clashed with the government last week over a plan to allow councils to borrow £10million to allow 500 teachers to take early retirement to free up posts for new teachers, declined to comment.