Who is Humza Yousaf? All we know about SNP politician as he is elected party leader

Scottish health secretary Humza Yousaf has been elected as the leader of the SNP.

After a tense five-week contest against Ash Regan and Kate Forbes after Nicola Sturgeon announced she would resign, Mr Yousaf found out that he had won shortly after 2pm on Monday.

The SNP’s national secretary Lorna Finn announced that the turnout in the party’s leadership election was 70%. For first preferences in the STV system, Humza Yousaf took 24,336 (48%), Kate Forbes took 20,559 (40%) and Ash Regan took 5,599 (11%) of the vote.

When second preferences were distributed in the second stage, Humza Yousaf took 26,032 (52%) and Kate Forbes took 23,890 (48%).

In winning, he has become Scotland’s first Muslim leader. Below we look at his career in politics to date and his beliefs.

Personal life

Mr Yousaf is the son of immigrants who arrived in Glasgow in the 1960s.

His father is from Pakistan, while his mother was born into a South Asian family in Kenya.

He was privately educated at Hutchesons’ Grammar School in Glasgow and studied politics at the University of Glasgow.

At a press conference in February, he said his late grandfather came to Scotland from a small town in Pakistan in 1962 with barely a word of English.

“I don’t imagine in his wildest dreams that his grandson would one day be running to be first minister of Scotland,” Mr Yousaf added.

He said it “speaks to us as a nation that anyone, regardless of race, can aim for the highest office in our country and not be judged by the colour of their skin”.

Scotland, he said, “should be proud that a grandson of an immigrant can seek to become the next first minister”.

Political career

Before becoming the first Muslim to be appointed to the Scottish government in 2012, Mr Yousaf was an office manager for the SNP’s Bashir Ahmad, the first MSP from an Asian and Muslim background and then went on to work for other MSPs, including Alex Salmond and Ms Sturgeon.

He became a transport minister in 2016 and was fined £300 for driving a friend’s car without insurance.

He then became justice secretary in 2018 and introduced the Hate Crime and Public Order bill which made “stirring up hatred” on religion, sexual orientation, age, disability and transgender identities an offence.

Mr Yousaf has also served as transport minister, and international development minister, before becoming the health secretary in 2021.

While working in this role, he has faced criticism for long waiting times and for urging the public to “think twice” before calling 999 in September 2021.

What does he believe?

Mr Yousaf has pitched himself as a continuity candidate.

Pledging to preserve the SNP’s “winning formula” of progressive values, he has asked the party to quit “obsessing” with process. “If we build that consistent majority then those political obstacles that are put in the way, they will disappear, they will dissipate,” he said.

His pledges include appointing a senior figure to devise a strategy for rejoining the EU, challenging Westminster on its block on gender reforms and reforming the SNP.

Mr Yousaf has also promised more action on Scotland’s drugs death crisis and had said he will hold a series of independence campaign workshops, which would be available to all SNP members.

He has also joined those criticising his rival Ms Forbes for her religious views against same-sex marriage.

However, he then came under scrutiny after questions were raised about why he missed the final vote on the issue in 2014.

A serving minister at the time, Mr Yousaf claimed he had an unavoidable meeting. But Mr Salmond, later gave an exclusive interview to Sky News claiming Mr Yousaf, had asked to “skip” the vote due to pressure from religious groups, which he denied.

What has he said during his campaign?

In a video posted on social media when he launched his campaign, he spoke about how the days following Ms Sturgeon’s resignation had been a “rollercoaster of emotion”.

“I’m doing it because the top job requires somebody who has experience and I have been trusted by Nicola Sturgeon with some of the toughest jobs in government”, he explained.

He added he believes in Scottish independence “with every fibre” of his being.

But he said he had some “concerns” about the outgoing Ms Sturgeon’s plan to use the upcoming general election, likely to be called next year, as a de facto second referendum on the issue.

He said: “I’m not as wedded to it as the first minister.”

Asked by reporters when a second referendum might be held, he added: “I’m not going to put a timetable on it. I want independence tomorrow if we can have it, and that goes almost without saying.”