Humza Yousaf has won the Scottish National Party’s leadership contest to become Scotland’s First Minister, replacing Nicola Sturgeon, it was announced on Monday.
“I will be First Minister for all of Scotland. I will work every minute of every day to earn and re-earn your respect and trust,” Yousaf said in his acceptance speech.
Yousaf won 52% of the final votes cast and ran on a platform devoted to, among other things, Scottish independence, tackling the cost of living crisis, rejoining the European Union, banning conversion practices and the transition to renewable energy.
“My immediate priority will be to continue to protect every Scot as much as possible from the damage caused by the cost of living crisis to restore and reform our NHS and other vital public services. [and] to support our welfare economy, to improve life chances for people across the country,” he said.
Yousaf, who has served as Member of Parliament for Glasgow Pollok since 2016 and for Glasgow between 2011 and 2016, is the first Muslim and non-white cabinet minister to have served in the Scottish Government.
“Serving my country as First Minister will be the greatest privilege and honor of my life,” Yousaf added.
Yousaf’s win was confirmed on Monday afternoon at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield rugby ground after a six-week campaign in which the three contestants spent much of the competition criticizing each other’s record in a series of personal attacks, Portal reports.
Yousaf takes over a party with the primary goal of ending Scotland’s three-century union with England.
But while around four in 10 Scots still support independence, according to a poll this month, the departure of Sturgeon – a charismatic and authoritative leader – could slow some of the momentum behind a UK dissolution.
There is no agreed strategy for forcing a new referendum – one of the reasons Sturgeon resigned.
The often ill-tempered leadership competition has eased some of the pressure on British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is struggling with divisions within his own party, spate of industrial unrest and high inflation.
Yousaf cited his own background – born in Glasgow to a father from Pakistan and a mother from Kenya – and his views as examples of the inclusive, socially liberal and multi-ethnic Scotland that the SNP has promoted.
Yousaf also said during the campaign that an independent Scotland should seek to abandon the British monarchy.
Scotland voted 55% to 45% against independence in 2014. Britain’s vote to leave the EU two years later, when a majority of Scots wanted to stay, and Scotland’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic brought renewed support for independence.
However, an opinion poll this month found support for independence has fallen to 39%, or 46% if ‘don’t know’ is excluded. This compares to a record 58% in 2020.
Michael Russell, the president of the SNP, said a week ago that the party was in a “tremendous mess”.
The Scottish Government’s first and only Muslim cabinet minister, Yousaf, will be sworn in as Scotland’s leader on Wednesday if he wins a vote in the country’s parliament the day before.