- Humza Yousaf has been elected the new leader of the Scottish National Party by party members.
- In a speech following the announcement, he said he felt like the “happiest man in the world” and would lead in the interest of all party members and Scotland in the interest of all citizens.
- The SNP supports the campaign for Scotland’s independence from the UK and holds a majority of 64 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, giving it control of devolved areas including housing, education, the judiciary, local government and tax areas.
Newly appointed leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), Humza Yousaf, speaks after the announcement of the SNP leadership’s election result at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh March 27, 2023.
Andy Buchanan | AFP | Getty Images
Humza Yousaf was elected the new leader of the Scottish National Party on Monday and vowed in a speech to bring the party together, help citizens amid the cost of living crisis and achieve independence from the UK.
After his nomination in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday, he is to take over the political leadership in Scotland.
Yousaf said his immediate priority was “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, to support our welfare economy, to improve life chances for people in the whole country.”
He added that he will work on plans to “expand childcare, improve rural housing, support small businesses and encourage innovation”.
The SNP supports the campaign to gain Scotland’s independence from the UK and holds a majority of 64 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, giving it control over devolved areas including housing, education, the judiciary, local government and tax areas.
Yousaf, currently Scotland’s Minister of Health, has been in government since 2012 and was seen as a favorite in the race against Kate Forbes and Ash Regan.
He has positioned himself as a unity candidate and has been touted by his supporters as the best man to maintain the SNP’s alliance with the Scottish Greens. He told BBC Scotland that his management style would be “less inner circle and more big tent” compared to his predecessor, Nicola Sturgeon.
His political opponents have slammed his record as health minister, with emergency room wait times reaching record highs and drug-related deaths in the country continuing to rise.
Yousaf, whose father is originally from Pakistan and emigrated to Glasgow in the 1960s and whose mother was born in Kenya, is said to be the first person of color to lead Scotland. If confirmed on Tuesday, he will become the country’s sixth leader since the Scottish Parliament was established in 1999.
“We should all be proud that today we sent a clear message that the color of your skin and your beliefs are not a barrier to leading the country we all call home,” Yousaf said.
Yousaf’s election follows the surprise resignation on February 15 of Sturgeon, who has served as SNP leader and Scotland’s First Minister since November 2014.
She became a well-known political figure in the UK, uniting her party and leading it to win a large majority in Scotland in three general elections. Sturgeon has drawn both praise and considerable controversy over recent reforms to gender legislation in Scotland and leaves a mixed legacy on national issues.
Yousaf, a Sturgeon ally, has previously said he would challenge the UK government’s decision to block gender reforms but would take legal advice to guide him.
Political commentators say the new SNP leader will have to lead a party whose divisions have deepened during the heated election campaign for leadership, and will also grapple with questions about the further path to Scottish independence.
In his speech on Monday, Yousaf said: “We will be the team that brings about Scottish independence,” stressing that what united the SNP after recent power struggles was this common goal. He went on to say that building support for the cause must be done “on the doorstep”.
Sturgeon led the 2014 independence referendum when 55.3% of pollsters voted against leaving the union.
The SNP has campaigned since the Brexit vote in 2016 for a second referendum in which 62% of those who went to Scotland voted to remain in the European Union. In November, the UK’s highest court ruled that every second Scottish independence vote must be approved by the UK government, which opposes it.
Yousaf has not committed, like Sturgeon, to using the next election – which is expected to be held next year – as a de facto independence referendum.
On Monday he said he was a “proud Scotsman and also a proud European”.
“Scotland is a European nation. We want to return to the European Union and do our part to build a continent based on human rights, peace, prosperity and social justice,” he said.