H
umza Yousaf officially launched his campaign to become the next First Minister of Scotland and leader of the SNP on Monday, vowing to “re-energise the independence campaign in the best interests of our nation”.
Mr Yousaf, Scotland’s Health and Social Care Secretary, is one of three candidates to have so far declared their intention to stand in the race to replace Nicola Sturgeon who shocked UK politics by announcing her plans to quit last week.
Seen as a continuity candidate and an early frontunner, Mr Yousaf talked up his long experience in Government at his campaign launch in Clyedebank, on the outskirts of Glasgow.
What is his background?
Mr Yousaf has served as justice secretary, transport minister and international development minister and became the first Muslim to be appointed to the Scottish Government in 2012.
If successful he would also break fresh political ground by becoming Scotland’s first First Minister from an ethnic minority background.
His father, who is from Pakistan, and his mother, from Kenya, moved to the UK in the 1960s.
After being elected in 2011 as a Glasgow region MSP, he took his oath to the Queen in English and in Urdu.
He did the same when re-elected in 2016, wearing both a kilt and sherwani to reflect his Scottish and Pakistani heritage.
At his press conference on Monday morning 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”.
Scrutiny for Scotland’s NHS performance
But while he has pointed to a decade of top ministerial roles, his record running Scotland’s NHS has come under intense scrutiny with Mr Yousaf facing criticism for long waiting times and for urging the public to “think twice” before calling 999 in September 2021.
After studying politics at Glasgow University, Mr Yousaf began working as an office manager for the SNP’s Bashir Ahmad, the first MSP from an Asian and Muslim background.
Following Mr Ahmad’s death in 2009, Mr Yousaf went on to work for other MSPs including Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.
On the SNP’s fight for independence Mr Yousaf said he believed in it “with every fibre” of his being.
But he added that despite being a close ally of Ms Sturgeon, he had some “concerns” about the outgoing First Minister’s plan to use the upcoming general election, likely to be called next year, as de facto second referendum on breaking away from the rest of the UK.
He said: “I’m not as wedded to it as the First Minister.”
Asked 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.”
