Humza Yousaf, the new leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), in Edinburgh, Monday March 27, 2023. ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP
For the first time in its history, Scotland would be ruled by a person of Indo-Pakistani origin and of Muslim faith. Humza Yousaf, 37, was elected leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) by members of this pro-independence party on Monday 27 March. On Tuesday he was due to be seamlessly appointed Prime Minister of Scotland by Edinburgh’s regional parliament, where the SNP is by far the largest political party.
This appointment is further evidence of the integration of the UK’s Indo-Pakistani community: Conservative British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is of Indian origin and of Hindu faith. Anas Sarwar, from a Pakistani family, leads the Scottish branch of the Labor Party. The designation “underscores how ethnic and religious diversity has become the norm at the top of Scottish and British political parties, in a way that is unparalleled elsewhere in Europe,” said Sunder Katwala, director of think tank British Future, which advocates for equality between people employs the different ethnic communities of the country.
“My grandparents would never have imagined this fate, one of my grandfathers worked for the Glasgow bus company and the other for the Singer factory [de Clydebank, à l’ouest de Glasgow] reacting, moving, Mr. Yousaf, short beard and tartan tie. Reaffirming that “faith does not prevent you from governing a country”, Nicola Sturgeon’s former health secretary registered his future actions under the sign of “justice”, promising to govern “for all Scots” and one of his Priorities are “to protect them from the subsistence crisis”. However, independence remains his primary goal because, he believes, “the Scots want it now”.
Difficult to follow Nicola Sturgeon
Growing up in Glasgow, Scotland’s business capital and bastion of the independence movement, Humza Yousaf joined the SNP in 2005; still a student at Glasgow University, he heard then party leader Alex Salmond denounce Britain’s entry into the war in Iraq. He was elected to the Scottish Parliament (where he took the oath in English and Urdu) in 2011 and became a Minister in Mr Salmond’s government the following year. He will chain portfolios and move from justice to transport and eventually health during the Covid pandemic. Without flaws, but also without making sparks.
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“I’m proud of him and a bit nervous too,” enthused Shaaista Bhutta, the new boss’s mother, on the Sky News microphone shortly after his appointment. With good reason: Outgoing Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who even her opponents see as a “giant” of Scottish and British politics, will not be easy to replace. At 52, head of the SNP since the end of 2014, she suddenly announced her resignation in mid-February, with no explanation other than “the desire to continue” after having “lived almost everything”. [sa] adult life in politics. »
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