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Humza Yousaf becomes the new Scottish Prime Minister. He won the battle for the leadership of the Scottish ruling party SNP on Monday. Yousaf, 37, succeeds Nicola Sturgeon, who surprisingly stepped down six weeks ago.
Like his predecessor, Yousaf says he is determined to make Scotland independent of the UK. He thinks his country needs it more than ever and then wants to return to the European Union.
In his victory speech, Yousaf called himself a “proud Scotsman” and “the happiest man alive”, now leading the party he has supported “for over 20 years”. He also thanked his rivals for party leadership, Treasury Secretary Kate Forbes and former Secretary of State Ash Regan.
Yousaf received around 26,000 votes, slightly more than Forbes, which received nearly 24,000 votes. Regan was already eliminated on the first ballot. The announcement took place at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Rugby Stadium.
Yousaf, the first Muslim to lead a party in the UK
Yousaf is the first Muslim to lead a major party in the UK. He is also the first Muslim to lead a Western European country. There will be a vote in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday before Yousaf officially becomes First Minister of Scotland.
It’s up to Yousaf to get all the heads together quickly, as the SNP has fallen sharply in popularity with Scots in recent months.
Sturgeon unexpectedly announced on February 15 that he was stepping down as prime minister and party leader. The politician has said she will no longer contribute to an independent Scotland. She will remain in office until her successor is elected.
The SNP won a landslide election victory under Sturgeon in 2021. Because the UK government is not allowing a new independence referendum, Sturgeon has said he wants to make the next election a referendum in disguise.
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