Humza Yousaf makes history as first Muslim leader of Scottish National Party
Humza Yousaf is the new leader of the Scottish National Party after narrowly winning a five-week battle to replace Nicola Sturgeon.
The current Health Secretary, 37, is set to become Scotland’s youngest first minister and the first ever person from a minority ethnic background to hold the post.
On top of this, he will be the first Muslim to lead a major UK party.
He beat out rivals Finance Secretary Kate Forbes, 32, and former community safety minister Ash Regan, 49.
For first preferences in the single transferrable vote system, Mr Yousaf took 24,336 (48%), Ms Forbes took 20,559 (40%) and Ms Regan fell out of the race with 5,599 (11%) of the vote.
No candidate got 50% and when second preferences were announced, Mr Yousaf took 26,032 (52%) and Ms Forbes took 23,890 (48%) – a difference of just 2,142 votes.
The result was announced at the BT Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh after the ballot of SNP members closed at noon, with a turnout of 70%.
Mr Yousaf said he felt ‘like the luckiest man in the world’ to lead a party he joined almost 20 years ago ‘and that I love so dearly’.
He has vowed to lead Scotland ‘in the interest of all of our citizens’, whatever their political allegiance.
The SNP is a ‘family’ and ‘we are no longer team Humza, or team Ash, or team Kate, we are one team’, he added.
The Scottish Parliament will vote tomorrow to select the next first minister, who will be formally sworn in in a short ceremony, likely held on Wednesday at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
‘If elected as your first minister in parliament tomorrow, know that I will be a first minister for all of Scotland’, Mr Yousaf said.
‘I will work every minute of every day to earn and re-earn your respect and your trust.
‘I will do that by treating you, the people of Scotland, with respect. There will be no empty promises or easy soundbites when the issues in front of us are difficult and complex.
‘Because government is not easy and I won’t pretend that it is.’
The results of the leadership contest emerge after Ms Sturgeon announced in February that she would step down following eight years in the top job.
Ms Sturgeon congratulated her successor today, saying he will be ‘an outstanding leader & First Minister and I could not be prouder to have him succeed me’.
It hasn’t been a smooth leadership contest for the party, with acrimonious clashes between candidates and the dramatic resignation of chief executive Peter Murrell following controversy over the transparency of SNP membership numbers.
Mr Yousaf, who is a close ally of Ms Sturgeon, has long been viewed as a potential successor.
He became the first Muslim to be appointed to the Scottish government in 2012 and has been a perennial frontbencher in every SNP administration since.
Far more MSPs and MPs backed him over his two rivals – with Deputy First Minister John Swinney predicting he would ‘complete our journey to independence’.
Despite his success, he has drawn criticism in the past for ‘ignoring’ fears over a lack of protection for free speech in the Hate Crime Bill.
He has also been slammed over his handling of the NHS, which has faced one of the hardest winters in its history.
His rival Ms Forbes served as a backbencher for two years before being appointed as minister for public finance and digital economy in June 2018.
She then became the finance secretary and launched her leadership campaign while on maternity leave.
The devout Christian’s bid to become leader proved controversial after she admitted she would have opposed same-sex marriage as ‘a matter of conscience’ if she had been an MSP when it became law.
She has also said she would never have an abortion, and that she thinks it’s wrong to have sex outside of marriage.
Mr Yousaf has described himself as a practising Muslim, but says he personally supports gay marriage.
Ms Regan has been the Member of Scottish Parliament for Edinburgh Eastern since 2016, and served as Minister for Community Safety for four years.
She quit her position in protest of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, which would make it easier for transgender people to change their sex on official documents.
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