5 min readNew DelhiMar 28, 2023 07:43 AM IST
First published on: Feb 23, 2023 at 04:36 PM IST
Scottish nationalists picked Humza Yousaf to be the country’s next leader on Monday. The 37-year-old practising Muslim will succeed Nicola Sturgeon as leader of the governing Scottish National Party (SNP) and, subject to a vote in the Scottish parliament, take over as head of the semi-autonomous government.
Sturgeon had in February announced her intention to step back from politics and leadership. Her impending departure left a vacuum in Scottish politics – Sturgeon has been Scotland’s longest-serving first minister (in power since 2014) and has had to navigate through some of the most testing times in the country’s history.
A week after the announcement, three main candidates emerged to replace Sturgeon: Kate Forbes, a devout Christian and the country’s current Finance Secretary, Humza Yousaf, the Health Secretary, Sturgeon’s favoured choice and the country’s first and only Muslim cabinet minister, and Ash Regan, a younger and lesser known Member of Scottish Parliament.
Early days
Yousaf was born on April 7, 1985, in Glasgow, Scotland. His grandfather moved to Scotland in 1962 from Mian Channu in Punjab, Pakistan, without knowing a word of English. His grandfather “couldn’t have imagined, not in his wildest dreams, that his grandson would be running to be first minister of Scotland,” he said. Yousaf’s mother, also of South Asian descent, emigrated to Scotland from Kenya.
Yousaf showed interest in public service from an early age: he used to work and fundraise for various charities including Islamic Relief UK. He went to the University of Glasgow to study Politics. While at the university, Yousaf was a prominent figure in student politics and the President of the Glasgow University Muslim Students Association. He graduated with an MA in 2007.
Meteoric rise in Scottish politics
Yousaf first entered the world of politics in 2007, as a parliamentary assistant to MSP Bashir Ahmad. After working as an assistant to Ahmad and a few other MSPs including Nicola Sturgeon, he was elected to the Scottish Parliament himself in 2011, aged slightly more than 25 years old. Yousaf thus became the youngest-ever member of the Scottish Parliament.
Yousaf became the first Scottish Asian and Muslim to be appointed as a minister to the Scottish Government in 2012 when then First Minister Alex Salmond appointed him as the Minister for External Affairs and International Development, responsible for external affairs, fair trade policy and diaspora. He would continue his junior ministership under new First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
In 2018, Yousaf was promoted to become the Cabinet Secretary for Justice. One of his flagship policies was the Hate Crime Bill which would streamline existing legislation as well as add additional protections for persecuted minorities. After the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, Yousaf was re-elected and appointed as the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care. As Scotland bore the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic and crumbling public infrastructure, Yousaf earned both praise and criticism for his handling of the situation.
Political positions
Humza Yousaf is by far the most socially progressive candidate out of the leading contenders and a poster child for British multiculturalism. In 2016, after winning his second term as an MSP, Yousef delivered his oath of allegiance in Urdu while wearing a kilt. In 2011, he had worn a sherwani while taking oath. He has held progressive views on immigration, working towards providing immigrants and asylum seekers greater legal protections.
His views on gender are progressive. He was a strong proponent of the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 which legalised same-sex marriage. He also supports Sturgeon’s Gender Recognition (Reform) Bill which will allow trans persons to self-identify. This Bill has faced strong opposition in the UK parliament, with the Rishi Sunak government blocking the legislation. Previously, he came under fire for refusing to say how many genders the Scottish Government believed there were, insisting it was important to be “inclusive, particularly of non-binary persons”.
Yousaf has also been a strong proponent of universal welfare programmes funded by progressive taxation. He has been a proponent of increasing public sector pay and is considered to be pro-union.
Lastly, he is a strong proponent of Scottish independence. On the SNP’s fight for independence, Yousaf said he believed in it “with every fibre” of his being, reported The Telegraph. Yousaf’s voted ‘Yes’ in the failed independence referendum of 2014.
Opposition to his appointment
His prospective appointment as Scotland’s First Minister has a fair share of detractors, from Scottish Conservatives to the Indian Council of Scotland which has claimed that the Indian diaspora will “feel unsafe” in the event Yousaf is elected.
“The Indian community – which is a community of all faiths that includes Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, and Judaism – would not feel safe with Humza Yousaf as First Minister,” claimed Neil Lal, the President of the Indian Council of Scotland.
Humza Yousaf (fourth from left) was the most progressive candidate in the fray to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as Scottish First Minister and leader of the SNP (Photo: Twitter/@HumzaYousaf) 
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