EDINBURGH: Humza Yousaf on Monday won the election to become Scotland’s new leader, the youngest and first from an ethnic minority background, charged with reviving a weakening independence movement after Nicola Sturgeon’s long tenure in power.
Yousaf emerged victorious with 52% of Scottish National Party members’ preferentially ranked votes, following a divisive leadership fight triggered by Sturgeon’s surprise resignation announcement in February.
Humza Yousaf – Frist ethnic Muslim leader
He would be sworn in as the first minister on Wednesday, becoming the first Muslim to lead a major party in the UK.
He is also the country’s youngest leader, taking charge months after Rishi Sunak became the youngest prime minister of the UK in modern times when he entered Downing Street at just 42 years of age.
The 37-year-old Yousaf vowed to continue pursuing the party’s central policy — independence for Scotland — which Sturgeon has championed since the party lost a referendum in 2014 on the issue by 10 points.
In his victory speech, Yousaf said that the people of Scotland required independence now, more than ever before, and “we will deliver independence for them.”
He said that his “immediate priority” was protecting the citizens from Britain’s cost-of-living crisis and bringing reforms in public services.
Yousaf, a health minister in the last cabinet, narrowly won over finance minister Kate Forbes to become SNP leader after party voters’ second choices were added to their tallies.
A former minister in the cabinet Ash Regan finished a distant third.
