Humza Yousaf becomes the first Asian ever to lead Scotland as the leader of the Scottish National party, in a narrow victory that will force him to confront deep divisions within his party. Yousaf (37) also becomes the first ever Muslim to lead the party and country, he was raised in.
Widely seen as Nicola Sturgeon’s preferred successor, Yousaf defeated his closest rival, Kate Forbes, by a narrower-than-expected 52% to 48% after second-preference votes cast by supporters of Ash Regan, the candidate who came last in the first round, were counted. The turnout was 70%.
Following his win, Mr Yousaf said: "Leadership elections, by their very nature, can be bruising. However, in the SNP we are a family. Over the last five weeks we may have been competitors or supporters of different candidates. We are no longer team Humza, or team Ash, or team Kate, we are one team. We will be the team, we will be the generation, that delivers independence for Scotland."
"The people of Scotland need independence now, more than ever before and we will be the generation that delivers independence," he was quoted as saying by Reuters in his victory speech. He also talked about his grandparents who arrived in Scotland from Pakistan in the 1960s, barely speaking any English, and said they would not have believed "in their wildest dreams" that their grandson would one day become first minister of Scotland.
"We should all take pride in the fact that today we have sent a clear message: that your colour of skin or, indeed, your faith, is not a barrier to leading the country that we all call home," Yousaf said.
After winning the election, Yousaf said his own experience as an ethnic minority means he will fight to protect the rights of all minorities, including gay and transgender people.
Yousaf is the son of first-generation immigrants. His father was born in Pakistan and his mother was born into a family of Punjabi descent in Kenya. He attended a private school in Glasgow and studied politics at Glasgow University.
He worked in a call centre before becoming an aide to Alex Salmond, former first minister of Scotland. He was elected to the Scottish Parliament as an additional member for the Glasgow region in 2011. After his win, Yousaf took his oath in English and Urdu.
After Ms Sturgeon announced her intention to step down, Mr Yousaf, Ms Forbes and Ms Regan, who have all been ministers in the outgoing first minister's cabinet, entered the race for the top job.
