Humza Yousaf

Scottish health secretary set to become first minister on Wednesday after securing 52% of vote.

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New leader needs to convince Scotland that he can take the SNP in a fresh direction.

Yousaf’s allies suggest he has been underestimated but admit it is up to him to demonstrate his talents. It will involve countering his rival Kate Forbes’s attack that he was incompetent in the three policy briefs he held. He initially said he would take legal action, but then suggested he would only proceed if the advice suggested he could win. Yet his opponents suggest that if there was any real hope of another independence referendum, Sturgeon would still be in post. “He’s got to show he’s prepared to do that,” one said of Yousaf. Downing Street has already made it clear that Sunak’s response to Yousaf will be no different.

Humza Yousaf faces some enormous challenges as he takes over from Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader and Scotland's first minister. Being the leader of a divided ...

At the start of the leadership contest Humza Yousaf seemed committed to challenging that position in court. While that is substantially true, it may not be the only factor. I expect that whatever she might be offered, Kate Forbes would want a fair amount of autonomy if she is to continue in government. Then of course there are significant policy issues to be addressed. That's not a prediction. In his acceptance speech, he acknowledged the "bruising" nature of the leadership campaign and called for divisions to be healed quickly.

Scottish National Party (SNP) leadership candidates Ash Regan (L) and Kate Forbes. Humza Yousaf won 52 percent of the vote of SNP members in the second round, ...

Britain's vote to leave the EU two years later when most Scots wanted to stay, and Scotland's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, brought new support for independence. Ash Regan, who had quit the government because of her opposition to proposed changes to gender recognition, was eliminated in the first round. His predecessor stepped down after the British government repeatedly blocked a route to a new vote on independence. While Forbes faced criticism when she announced her opposition to same-sex marriage, Yousaf said he supports it. In 2016, Yousaf took his oath of allegiance in the Scottish parliament in Urdu while wearing a kilt, and he has referred to himself as coming from a "bhangra and bagpipes" heritage. He pointed to his own background - born in Glasgow, with a father from Pakistan and mother from Kenya - and views as examples of the inclusive, socially liberal and multi-ethnic Scotland that the SNP has promoted.

Humza Yousaf has been elected the new head of the Scottish National Party by party members. In a speech following the announcement, he said he felt like the ...

He continued that building support for the cause would need to be done "on the doorstep." If approved on Tuesday, he will be the country's sixth leader since the establishment of the Scottish parliament in 1999. "Scotland is a European nation. In November, the U.K.'s highest court government, which opposes the move. Sturgeon generated both praise and significant controversy over recent [decision](https://news.sky.com/story/uk-government-blocks-scotlands-gender-reform-bill-in-constitutional-first-12787916) to block the gender reforms, but that he would be [guided](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-65036907) by legal advice in doing so. [reforms](https://news.sky.com/story/why-is-scotlands-gender-recognition-reform-bill-controversial-12788818) to gender legislation in Scotland, and leaves behind a [mixed legacy](https://news.sky.com/story/nicola-sturgeons-time-as-scotlands-first-minister-in-10-charts-12811812) on domestic issues. The SNP supports the campaign for Scotland to gain independence from the United Kingdom and holds a majority of 64 of the 129 seats in the Scottish parliament, giving it control over - In a speech following the announcement, he said he felt like the "luckiest man in the world" and would lead in the interest of all party members and lead Scotland in the interest of all citizens. - The SNP supports the campaign for Scotland to gain independency from the United Kingdom and holds a majority of 64 of the 129 seats in the Scottish parliament, giving it control over devolved areas that include housing, education, justice, local government and areas of taxation. Humza Yousaf on Monday was elected the new head of the Scottish National Party, promising in a speech to bring the party together, support citizens with the cost-of-living crisis and deliver independence from the United Kingdom.

Newly appointed leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), Humza Yousaf speaks at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh on March 27, 2023. Andy Buchanan/AFP/Getty ...

“We will be the generation that delivers independence for Scotland,” he said in a victory speech. It remains etched into the memories of many who experienced it, and their descendents. Britain’s Home Secretary Suella Braverman also has Indian roots, while London mayor Sadiq Khan was born to a working-class Pakistani immigrant family. In 2014, Scotland voted against independence by 55%. The hardship reached a breaking point when his grandmother was attacked with an axe, he said. His mother was born in Nairobi, Kenya, also to a family from Punjabi descent. But 75 years since the end of the British Raj, many commentators have remarked at how history has come full circle. [interview](https://www.holyrood.com/inside-politics/view,interview-humza-yousaf-on-tackling-hate-headon_9401.htm) with Scotland’s Holyrood newspaper, Yousaf explained in detail how his mother’s family faced racial discrimination in the East African city for being seen as taking away jobs from the local population. Yousaf joined the SNP while he was a student at the University of Glasgow and rose through the ranks of the party, becoming a member of parliament in 2011 – the first Muslim and non-White cabinet minister to serve in the Scottish Government. Noor Ahmed, from the Citizen’s Archive of Pakistan, a non-profit organization dedicated to cultural and historic preservation, described the journey Yousaf has taken as a “Pakistani story that is moving and aspirational, and will be lauded locally.” On Tuesday, the Scottish Parliament will vote to elect the country’s sixth first minister, a position Yousaf is expected to claim as the head of the party with the most lawmakers. “It was time to get away and again, it made sense because there was a British call for people from the Commonwealth to come and take on industrial jobs,” Yousaf said.

This bitterly fought contest has only widened divisions, and the opposition parties are already circling, says Herald columnist Dani Garavelli.

But the Greens would have been the likely beneficiaries of a mass exit of “woke” members, and Forbes might have proved a challenging adversary across the chamber. It is impossible yet to know if Scottish Labour will rise to the occasion and capitalise on the widening faultlines within the SNP. And, of course, there is still the police probe into the [£600,000 of funds](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nicola-sturgeon-600k-husband-investigation-b2283471.html) said to have gone missing from the party’s accounts (the party has not responded to the allegation, due to the ongoing investigation). [new taxes for the wealthy](https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/humza-yousaf-back-wealth-tax-29553552) is preferable to Forbes’s more conservative economic bent. The divisions within the party, and the miasma of failure around it, have only increased as a result of a bitterly fought contest and a relentless succession of bad news stories, something that is evident in the tight result. It was a growing recognition that the Salmond/Sturgeon era had run out of steam that led to her resignation. One of the quirks of the contest was that many unionist activists and commentators seemed to be lobbying for Forbes, which suggests they thought a victory for her would most boost their own position. Meanwhile, his predisposition to fight the UK government on its section 35 obstruction of the SNP’s [gender recognition reform bill](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/16/rishi-sunak-blocks-scotlands-gender-recognition-legislation) may be exactly what the progressives who voted for him want; but it will also rekindle the divisions that helped force his predecessor’s exit. [came through in the end](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/mar/27/humza-yousaf-elected-leader-scottish-national-party-snp), although by a tighter margin than any new leader of a party would want. With no second referendum on the horizon, and Sturgeon out of the picture, the cork has popped off the bottle and will not be forced back in. As the “establishment” candidate, he already has the support of the majority of MSPs and ministers. He will find it easier than Forbes would have done to form a cabinet, and his election makes it unlikely the Greens will walk out of their powersharing deal, as they had already

Having styled himself as the continuity candidate, the leadership contest has highlighted how much needs to change inside the party.

The campaign has signalled the end of “wheesht for indy” – all-pervasive internal discipline that meant frustrations about party management or policy were cut off in order to maintain focus on the main prize. By mid-April, he must also decide whether to contest the UK government’s block on Holyrood’s gender recognition bill. Working with him you realise he’s very on the ball and far from the buffoonish media caricature.” An hour after the result, Alex Salmond’s Alba party launched a recruitment drive based around Forbes’ slogan “continuity won’t cut it”. As much as the Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, decries Yousaf’s lack of electoral mandate, his mandate within the party itself is also slim. As an equalities activist I’ve never had to explain why something mattered.

He has pledged to be a "first minister for all of Scotland" after being chosen by party members to replace Nicola Sturgeon. Mr Yousaf, who had been serving as ...

Humza Yousaf has indicated he would like to continue that support, and indeed make it more of a priority for the Scottish government. Or does more of the focus need to be on poverty and disadvantage itself? None of these are simple, single issues to be filed away. An appeal for extra funding was met instead with the threat of 10% cuts. There's the clamour, notably from retailers, to reform business rates. Humza Yousaf is well aware of the mammoth task required to fix the problems across health and social care. And there is a question mark over economic strategy. But to deliver that will have to involve unpopular decisions about what the healthcare system can and cannot afford. But worries have been expressed that it is sometimes proving harder for other young people - who are not necessarily actively advantaged - to get places on certain courses. Can the government properly reset its strained relationship with teachers after the recent strike? It wanted to be judged by its progress raising attainment and helping children and young people from disadvantaged areas. Inevitably, the pandemic has thrown up new problems which are still real issues.

The new SNP leader promised to 'respect the views' of opposition parties and to 'never shy away from tackling the big issues' faced by Scotland.

"I will work every hour of every day to harness the potential of Scotland and every single person in it. [Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts](https://podfollow.com/skynewsdaily) A party I joined almost 20 years ago and that I love so dearly." I will lead a government that listens carefully and respects the views of all MSPs. [shock resignation last month](https://news.sky.com/story/scotlands-first-minister-nicola-sturgeon-is-to-resign-12811532), the race to replace her featured [rows over religious beliefs](https://news.sky.com/story/kate-forbes-says-her-campaign-for-scotlands-first-minister-not-over-after-equal-marriage-backlash-12816283), arguments about the [recollection of past events](https://news.sky.com/story/snp-leadership-hopeful-humza-yousaf-skipped-key-vote-on-gay-marriage-due-to-religious-pressure-says-scotlands-former-first-minister-alex-salmond-12823551), and widespread criticism of [secrecy surrounding the vote](https://news.sky.com/story/snp-has-lost-around-30-000-party-members-since-2021-12835441). [victory in the SNP leadership race on Monday](https://news.sky.com/story/humza-yousaf-announced-as-new-scottish-national-party-leader-replacing-nicola-sturgeon-12843363), the 37-year-old faced a vote at Holyrood to confirm him as Nicola Sturgeon's successor.

The Scottish National Party has elected 37 year-old Humza Yousaf to replace Nicola Sturgeon as leader - the first Muslim leader of a major party in Scottish ...

Voiced by artificial intelligence. LONDON — Humza Yousaf will replace Nicola Sturgeon as Scotland's first minister tomorrow, after the Scottish parliament ...

Yousaf will then begin the process of assembling his cabinet. Currently first minister-designate, Yousaf will formally become first minister tomorrow morning when he is sworn in at the Court of Session. After second preference votes were taken into account, he won 52.1 percent of the vote compared to 47.9 percent for Forbes.

BBC Newsbeat spent a week finding out what youth voters think about big issues in Scottish politics.

Three and a half million came to the ballot box. "It took me a long time to figure out who I was," says Andi. Remember those 16 and 17 year olds given a vote in 2014? "They need to focus on the prices of stuff. "I don't really look at news," catering student James told us. "Folks still have them on their cars and everything... "You still see them now," he says. She says her experience has highlighted the need for a "balance of what people have and what people need". "It's kind of scary to be a trans person in Scotland and also the UK right now," Andi says. "A lot of the time it's difficult to track because you're recording by gender identity and not sex, then you can't trace the impact," she says. "The cost of petrol is the only thing I have to really worry about." The cost of living's going up far too much and people are struggling far too much."

The 37-year-old was elected Tuesday by lawmakers as the first Muslim leader of not just Scotland—but any Western democracy.

[according to](https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1640340872662327296?s=20) Sunder Katwala, the director of the British Future think tank. That his victory comes so soon after the election of Britain’s Prime Minister [Rishi Sunak](https://time.com/6224248/rishi-sunak-britain-new-prime-minister/) last year and Ireland’s Taoiseach [Leo Varadkar](https://time.com/4810472/leo-varadkar-republic-of-ireland/) returning to power in December 2022 means that, for the first time in history, the British, Scottish, and Irish leaders are all of South Asian origin. The most immediate electoral test for Yousaf will be the next U.K. [the three candidates](https://time.com/6265023/scotland-snp-first-minister-candidates-2023/), which included the Scottish finance secretary Kate Forbes and former junior minister Ash Regan, Yousaf was widely seen as the continuity candidate and the favorite of the SNP leadership (save for Sturgeon, who declined to endorse a successor). Such an outcome would be a major boon for the Scottish Labour and Conservative parties, both of which have struggled to best the SNP in recent elections. “As immigrants of this country who knew barely a word of English, they could not have imagined in their wildest dreams that their grandson would one day be on the cusp of being the next First Minister of Scotland,” Yousaf said of his grandparents at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium on Monday.

The 37-year-old succeeds Nicola Sturgeon, who formally tendered her resignation to the king on Tuesday morning after announcing her intention to stand down last ...

I am proud of the work we have done alongside others to stand against hatred and bigotry, and my promise is that I will continue to stand alongside you in that fight for all of us.” Jack added: “I hope that Mr Yousaf will govern for the whole of Scotland. The Scottish Labour leader welcomed Yousaf to his position as the first first minister from a minority ethnic background, saying: “It is something our grandparents would never, ever have imagined when they arrived in this country and made Scotland their home.” Speaking ahead of the vote, Yousaf referred to the fact he and Sarwar were of Pakistani Muslim heritage. The fact that no one bats an eyelid at this tells me we are making progress in our nation for which we should all be very, very proud.” The four Lib Dem MSPs backed Cole-Hamilton.

Scotland's first Muslim leader hails victory but rival Kate Forbes rejects offer of cabinet post.

The only way of getting it is building that consistent majority.” Robison, who is based in Dundee, previously stood down as health secretary in 2018 following months of intense criticism over her handling of NHS funding crises. This referred to Yousaf’s narrow victory on Monday following a contest that revealed deep divisions within the party. These were referenced on Tuesday afternoon by opposition leaders. In his first speech after he was formally confirmed as first minister after winning the SNP leadership race, Yousaf spoke frankly about the relentless racist and Islamophobic abuse he has endured in public office, revealing: “There was a time not that long ago when I felt I simply did not belong here.” Speaking to reporters after he was formally elected as first minister, Yousaf insisted that he was keen to include his rival in his new administration, despite the brutal attacks she made on his record in government during the turbulent leadership campaign.