HomeEuropeHumza Yousaf set to helm Scotland after winning leadership of ruling party

Humza Yousaf set to helm Scotland after winning leadership of ruling party

Humza Yousaf on the way to General Questions in the Scottish Parliament, on March 23, 2023 in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Ken Jack | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Humza Yousaf has been elected the new head of the Scottish National Party by party members.

He is slated to assume political leadership in Scotland following a nomination in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday.

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.

Yousaf, currently Scotland’s health secretary, has served in government since 2012 and was considered the favorite in the race against Kate Forbes and Ash Regan.

He has positioned himself as a unity candidate and has been touted by supporters as best-placed to maintain the SNP’s alliance with the Scottish Greens party. He told BBC Scotland his leadership style compared to Sturgeon’s would be “less inner circle and more big tent.”

Yousaf, whose father was born in Pakistan and emigrated to Scotland in the 1960s and whose mother was born in Kenya, is the first ethnic minority leader of Scotland. He is the country’s sixth leader since the establishment of the Scottish parliament in 1999.

His political opponents have criticized his record as health secretary, with Scottish patients record-high waits at A&E and drug-related deaths continuing to rise in the country.

The election follows the surprise Feb. 15 resignation of Nicola Sturgeon, who served as SNP leader and Scotland’s first minister from November 2014.

She became a well-known political figure in the U.K., uniting her party and leading it to win a wide majority in Scotland during three general elections. Sturgeon generated both praise and significant controversy over recent reforms to gender legislation in Scotland, leaving behind a mixed legacy on domestic issues.

Political commentators say that her successor faces a party that is becoming increasingly divided and will also contend with questions on the way forward for Scottish independence.

Sturgeon was leader during the 2014 independence referendum, when 55.3% of poll goers voted against leaving the union.

The SNP has campaigned for a second referendum since the Brexit vote in 2016, in which 62% of those who headed to Scotland polls chose to remain in the European Union. In November, the U.K.’s highest court ruled that any second Scottish independence vote would have to be approved by the U.K. government, which opposes the move.

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