SNP leadership race RECAP: Humza Yousaf elected new SNP leader - with First Minister vote set for tomorrow
Yousaf is set to become Scotland’s youngest first minister and also the first ever person from a minority ethnic background to hold the post after he was elected SNP leader.
A vote in Holyrood will follow on Tuesday to select the next first minister.
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Hide AdThe current Scottish Health Secretary will be declared Scotland’s sixth first minister after a vote in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday.
Ms Sturgeon, who was Scotland’s longest-serving First Minister, announced last month she was stepping down after more than eight years in the job.
We’ll have live updates in our live blog as well as the results from 2pm.
SNP leadership race: Humza Yousaf is elected new SNP leader and prospective First Minister
Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has told the new leader of the SNP that “continuity won’t cut it” as he told Humza Yousaf that the “constitutional issue cannot be kicked into the long grass yet again”.
Mr Salmond, who served as first minister of Scotland between 2007 and 2014, and is now leader of the Alba Party, congratulated Mr Yousaf on his victory in the race to succeed Nicola Sturgeon but warned him given the tight vote he needed to listen to what the other candidates said during the campaign.
“Throughout the leadership campaign his record in government was a source of attack, but it is in the best interests of all the people of Scotland that the first minister of Scotland can competently lead a government to address the key challenges we face as a nation, namely the cost-of-living crisis and ensuring that our public services are fit for purpose,” Mr Salmond said.
“I thought both Ash Regan and Kate Forbes fought brave campaigns against the full force of the SNP establishment, and given that together they received over half the votes, the new leader would do well to listen to what they had to say in the campaign.”
Mr Salmond continued: “As the new first minister focuses on rebuilding the trust of the people of Scotland by improving the delivery of our public services, the constitutional issue cannot be kicked into the long grass yet again.
“The people of Scotland have voted in election after election not for who the first minister should be, but for Scotland to have a choice on its future.
“Humza Yousaf must back the calls of other independence-supporting parties and organisations, and convene an independence convention. It is now his responsibility to reunite the movement.
“Continuity won’t cut it. It’s time to hold Westminster’s feet to the fire.”
And that about concludes our live blog for the day
Humza Yousaf said he felt like the “luckiest man in the world” after being elected as the new SNP leader.
Mr Yousaf, who has been Scottish Health Secretary since 2021, succeeds Nicola Sturgeon in that role, and will now be formally elected by MSPs as Scotland’s sixth first minister on Tuesday.
He recorded a narrow victory over rival Kate Forbes once second preference votes were taken into account when Ash Regan was eliminated from the contest after the first round of voting.
In a speech after his victory was announced, he pledged to “dedicate every waking moment” to serving the people of Scotland.
He will be the first person from an ethnic minority background to be first minister and the first Muslim to lead the country – as well as the youngest ever first minister.
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