Humza Yousaf | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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First Minister of Scotland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Assumed office 29 March 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Monarch | Charles III | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Deputy | Shona Robison | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Nicola Sturgeon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Leader of the Scottish National Party | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Assumed office 27 March 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Deputy | Keith Brown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Nicola Sturgeon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Humza Haroon Yousaf 7 April 1985 Glasgow, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Political party | Scottish National Party | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse(s) | Gail Lythgoe
(m. 2010; div. 2017) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Children | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parent(s) | Muzaffar Yousaf Shaaista Bhutta | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Residence | Bute House | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | University of Glasgow | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Signature | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Website | humzayousaf First Minister of Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Humza Haroon Yousaf (/ˈhʌmzə ˈjʊsəf/;[1] born 7 April 1985) is a Scottish politician serving as First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since March 2023. Yousaf previously served under his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon as justice secretary from 2018 to 2021 and then as health secretary from 2021 to 2023. He has been the member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Glasgow Pollok constituency since 2016, having previously represented the Glasgow region from 2011 to 2016.
Born to Pakistani immigrants in Glasgow, Yousaf studied politics at the University of Glasgow, before working as a parliamentary assistant for Bashir Ahmad, the first Muslim elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2007. After Ahmad died two years later, Yousaf went on to work as parliamentary assistants for Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon. Prior to his election to parliament in 2011, he worked in the SNP's HQ as a communications officer. Appointed as a junior minister under Salmond in 2012, Yousaf served as the minister for external affairs and international development until 2014.
Yousaf supported Sturgeon's successful leadership bid in 2014 and after she was sworn in as first minister, he was subsequently appointed as the Europe minister before being appointed minister for transport and the islands in 2016. As part of cabinet reshuffle of Sturgeon's second government in 2018, Yousaf was promoted to the cabinet as the justice secretary. He introduced the controversial hate crime bill.[2][3] In 2021, he was appointed the health secretary during the later phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and was responsible for the NHS' recovery, as well as the mass roll out of the vaccination programme that began under his predecessor. Following the announcement of Sturgeon's intention to resign as Leader of the SNP and First Minister of Scotland, Yousaf won the 2023 SNP leadership election, defeating Kate Forbes with 52% to her 48% in the final stage.
Yousaf was officially appointed first minister on 29 March 2023, becoming the youngest, first Scottish Asian and Muslim to serve in office.
Humza Haroon Yousaf was born in the city of Glasgow on 7 April 1985.[4] He is the son of first-generation immigrants: his father Mian Muzaffar Yousaf was born in Mian Channu, Punjab, Pakistan, and emigrated from the city with his family in the 1960s, eventually working as an accountant.[5]
His paternal grandfather worked in the Singer sewing machine factory in Clydebank in the 1960s.[6] Yousaf's mother, Shaaista Bhutta, was born in Nairobi, Kenya, to a family of Punjabi descent.[7][6] Her family experienced violent racially motivated attacks on several occasions for being seen as taking jobs that "belonged" to Africans, and they later emigrated to Scotland.[8]
Humza attended Mearns Primary School in East Renfrewshire.[citation needed] Yousaf was one of two ethnic-minority pupils to attend his primary school.[8] Yousaf was privately educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School, an independent school in Glasgow, where his Modern Studies lessons inspired him to become involved in politics.[9][10]
He described 9/11 the "day that changed the world and for me" when he was 16 years old. Prior to the attack, Yousaf was close to two pupils whom he sat next to in his registration class, but after the attack in New York, they asked Yousaf questions like, "Why do Muslims hate America?"[8]
Yousaf studied politics at the University of Glasgow where he was President of the Glasgow University Muslim Students Association.[8][11] Yousaf graduated as a Master of Arts (MA) in 2007.[12]
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From an early age, Yousaf was involved in community work, ranging from youth organisations to charity fundraising.[13] He was the volunteer media spokesperson for the charity Islamic Relief,[13] worked for community radio for twelve years and on a project which provided food packages to homeless people and asylum seekers in Glasgow.[14]
Yousaf joined the Scottish National Party (SNP) in 2005, while studying at Glasgow university. Speeches by then-party leader Alex Salmond and anti-war activist Rose Gentle speaking out against the Iraq War convinced him that independence would be the only way for Scotland to avoid going to war.[15] He started campaigning extensively for the SNP, including for the 2007 Scottish parliament election, which resulted in the first SNP government in Scotland and Yousaf's first job in the Scottish parliament.[8]
In 2006, Yousaf worked in an O2 call centre,[16] before working as a parliamentary assistant for Bashir Ahmad, from Ahmad's election as Scotland's first Muslim MSP in 2007 until Ahmad's death two years later.[17] Ahmad was a personal influence. Yousaf then worked as parliamentary assistant for a few other MSPs including Anne McLaughlin, Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond, who was then First Minister.[18][19] Before his election to the Scottish Parliament, he worked in the SNP's headquarters as a Communications Officer.[16]
In 2008, whilst working as an aide, Yousaf took part in the International Visitor Leadership Program, a professional exchange run by the US State Department.[20] He was awarded the “Future Force of Politics” at the Young Scottish Minority Ethnic Awards in 2009, which was presented to him in Glasgow City Chambers.[21]
Yousaf was elected to the Scottish Parliament as an additional member for the Glasgow electoral region in the 2011 election.[22][23] At just 26 years of age, he was the youngest MSP to be elected to the 4th parliament.[24] When being sworn in, he took his oath in British English then Urdu, reflecting his British-Pakistani identity;[25] he was dressed in a traditional sherwani decorated with a Partick Thistle tartan touch, and a plaid draped over his shoulder.[26]
He served on the SNP's backbenches and was a member of the parliament's justice and public audit committees.[27] On 25 May 2011, Yousaf was appointed as a Parliamentary Liaison Officer to the Office of the First Minister, remaining in this post until 4 September 2012.[28]
On 5 September 2012, First Minister Alex Salmond appointed Yousaf as Minister for External Affairs and International Development, responsible for external affairs, international development; fair trade policy and diaspora.[29] This junior ministerial appointment saw him working under the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs. He was the first Scottish Asian and Muslim to be appointed as a minister to the Scottish Government.[30][31]
In October 2013, he outlined the SNP's plans to set out the United Nations target for overseas aid at 0.7% in an independent Scotland and accused the UK Government of going back on its promise in the 2010 coalition agreement to guarantee that level of spending.[32] Yousaf also outlined that an independent Scotland would "add a progressive voice to global issues promoting peace, equality and fairness" and added independence would be "achieved through a democratic, peaceful means without a single drop of blood being spilled and engaging with all the diverse communities that make up our rich tapestry in Scotland.".[33]
When Nicola Sturgeon became First Minister in November 2014 following Salmond's resignation, she kept Yousaf as a junior minister, although the name of the position he held was changed to the Minister for Europe and International Development.[34]
On 18 May 2016, he was appointed as Minister for Transport and the Islands following the formation of Sturgeon's second government.[35]
On 26 June 2018, Sturgeon announced her intention to perform a cabinet reshuffle of her second government. She promoted Yousaf to the Scottish Cabinet to serve as Cabinet Secretary for Justice, succeeding Michael Matheson.[36] In the year prior to his appointment (2017–18), 244,504 crimes were recorded by the police in Scotland; in the final year of his tenure (2020–21), the figure was 246,511.[37]
One of his flagship policies was the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill, which he promised would streamline existing legislation as well as add additional protections to persecuted minorities while maintaining rights to freedom of speech and freedom of expression.[38] The bill has been criticised by the Catholic Church, the National Secular Society as well as writers,[39] and in September 2020 it was amended to remove prosecution for cases of unintentionally stirring up hate, which could theoretically include libraries stocking contentious books.[40] In October 2020, Yousaf said that the exception to the Public Order Act 1986 which allows people to use otherwise illegal language in their own homes should be abolished.[41]
In the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, Yousaf was re-elected as the MSP for the Glasgow Pollok constituency. The SNP fell two seats short of an overall majority in the election, but remained the largest party, with more than double the seats of the Scottish Conservatives. Sturgeon announced her intention to form a third administration and appointed Yousaf as the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, succeeding Jeane Freeman, who stepped down at the election.[42]
Yousaf entered office amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2021 he said that ten children up to the age of nine had been admitted to Scottish hospitals in the previous week "because of COVID".[43] Professor Steve Turner, Scotland officer for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, contradicted him and said that children’s wards were “not seeing a rise in cases with Covid”. He added that the children in question had been hospitalised for other reasons. Yousaf clarified his statement and apologised for "any undue alarm".[44]
In July, the World Health Organisation concluded that six out of Europe's ten virus hotspots were in Scotland.[45] Tayside topped the list with 1,002 cases per 100,000 head of population over the previous fortnight.[46] The Scottish Government was accused of being ‘missing in action’ after it emerged that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Deputy First Minister John Swinney and Yousaf were all on holiday.[47] Yousaf said he had promised to take his stepdaughter to Harry Potter World, tweeting that: "Most important job I have is being a good father, step-father & husband to my wife and kids. In the last seven months they’ve had virtually no time from me."[48]
In September 2021, the average waiting time for an ambulance in Scotland soared to six hours and Yousaf urged the public to "think twice" before they called 999. Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane criticised the remark as “reckless messaging [that] could put lives at risk” and instead urged people to call an ambulance if they thought they needed one.[49] Following reports of elderly Scots dying whilst waiting for an ambulance to arrive,[50] Yousaf asked the Ministry of Defence for help and soldiers from the British Army were deployed to drive ambulances.[51] Audit Scotland concluded that 500 people died in Scotland in 2021 due to delayed access to emergency treatment.[52]
On 15 February 2023, Nicola Sturgeon announced her intention to resign the leadership of the Scottish National Party and First Minister of Scotland, which triggered a leadership election within the SNP to elect her successor.[53][54][55] On 18 February, Yousaf declared his candidacy for leader in an interview with the Sunday Mail.[56][57] He committed to challenging the UK Government over its decision to block the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill and stated he wanted to increase support for Scottish independence before delivering a referendum.[58][59]
Yousaf launched his leadership campaign in Clydebank on 20 February.[60] He said he was not "wedded" with using the next UK general election as a de facto referendum on Scottish independence and that one of the issues would be the inability for 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds to vote.[61][62] Yousaf reaffirmed his commitment to defend the Scottish Parliament against the UK Government's Section 35 order, which aims to block the gender reform bill.[63] He added that he could not pretend the bill had not "caused some division" within his party and stated he was "keen to work with those who have got real concerns".[63]
During the campaign, Yousaf faced questions on why he missed the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014. He said at the time that he was meeting the Pakistani consul to discuss the case of a Scotsman facing the death penalty for blasphemy.[64] Yousaf stated his support for the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, while his opponents Kate Forbes and Ash Regan opposed it.[65]
It was announced on 27 March 2023 that Yousaf had won the leadership race; he had 52% of the vote compared to Forbes' 48% in the final stage. Yousaf accepted the leadership at an event at Murrayfield Stadium where he promised to lead the party in the interest of all its members.[66]
Yousaf was sworn in as first minister of Scotland on 29 March 2023,[67] becoming the youngest, first Scottish Asian and Muslim to hold office since it was created in 1999.[68][69]
Yousaf will challenge the UK Government's section 35 order of the Gender Recognition Reform Bill.[70] On his first day as leader of the SNP, he requested a section 30 order from Westminster to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence, this was rejected.[71][failed verification][72][failed verification]
Yousaf is set to enter office amid the cost of living crisis.[73] He supports the introduction of the deposit return scheme, but not in its current form, suggesting it should exclude small businesses.[74] He has emphasised the need for a wellbeing economy and has proposed introducing a new wealth tax in order to raise money for more welfare benefits.[75][76]
Yousaf has been described as socially progressive.[77][78][79] He is a Sturgeon loyalist, and is in favour of continuing her socially progressive policies.[80][81]
As a member of the SNP, a pro-Scottish independence party, Yousaf voted 'Yes' in the 2014 independence referendum.[82] He has supported attempts for a second referendum.[83] Yousaf has raised concerns over using the next UK general election as a de facto referendum as it would not allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote.[84] He also believes another referendum should only be held if there is clear public support, stating "It isn't good enough to have polls that put support for independence at 50 per cent or 51%."[85][86]
In 2020, Yousaf expressed support for increasing the racial diversity among top government positions in Scotland. He stated "for 99% of the meetings I go to, I'm the only non-White person in the room [. . .]. Every chair of every public body is White. That is not good enough."[87]
Yousaf said in 2023 that he was "firmly committed to equality for everyone" and has vocally supported same-sex marriage and gender reforms for trans people.[88] In 2014 he was absent for the final vote of the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 due to a ministerial engagement, although he voted in favour of the bill in earlier stages.[89] He also voted in favour of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.[90] Yousaf has also vowed to secure the rights of LGBT community in a written constitution if Scotland gains independence.[91]
He supports Scottish republicanism, stating: "I believe we should be citizens first, not subjects."[92]
Party | Candidate | Constituency | Regional | |||||
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Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
SNP | Humza Yousaf[b] | 18,163 | 53.7 | 1.1 | 16,600 | 49.1 | 0.4 | |
Labour | Zubir Ahmed | 11,058 | 32.7 | 1.1 | 8,899 | 26.3 | 0.5 | |
Conservative | Sandesh Gulhane[c] | 1,849 | 5.5 | 4.0 | 3,832 | 11.3 | 2.2 | |
Green | Nadia Kanyange | 1,651 | 4.9 | New | 1,975 | 5.8 | 0.9 | |
Alba | 659 | 1.9 | New | |||||
Liberal Democrats | James Speirs | 522 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 455 | 1.3 | 0.0 | |
All for Unity | 318 | 0.9 | New | |||||
Scottish Family | 240 | 0.7 | New | |||||
Independent Green Voice | 180 | 0.5 | New | |||||
Abolish the Scottish Parliament | 105 | 0.3 | New | |||||
UKIP | Daryl Gardner | 185 | 0.5 | New | 95 | 0.3 | 1.8 | |
Freedom Alliance | 76 | 0.2 | New | |||||
Libertarian | Alan Findlay | 157 | 0.5 | New | 75 | 0.2 | New | |
TUSC | 62 | 0.2 | New | |||||
Women's Equality | 58 | 0.2 | 0.4 | |||||
Communist | 51 | 0.2 | New | |||||
Reform UK | 50 | 0.1 | New | |||||
Reclaim | Leo Kearse | 114 | 0.3 | New | 32 | 0.1 | New | |
No label | Joseph Finnie | 94 | 0.3 | New | ||||
Independent | Craig Ross | 25 | 0.1 | New | ||||
SDP | 20 | 0.1 | New | |||||
Renew | 11 | 0.03 | New | |||||
Independent | Daniel Donaldson | 10 | 0.03 | New | ||||
Majority | 7,105 | 21.0 | 2.2 | |||||
Valid Votes | 33,793 | 33,828 | ||||||
Invalid Votes | 131 | 87 | ||||||
Turnout | 33,924 | 54.3 | 8.5 | 33,915 | 54.3 | 8.4 | ||
SNP hold | Swing | |||||||
Notes
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Party | Candidate | Constituency | List | |||||
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Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
SNP | Humza Yousaf[a] | 15,316 | 54.8 | 10.1 | 13,902 | 49.5 | 7.4 | |
Labour Co-op | Johann Lamont[b][c] | 8,834 | 31.6 | 15.8 | 7,237 | 25.8 | 12.3 | |
Conservative | Thomas Haddow | 2,653 | 9.5 | 3.8 | 2,545 | 9.1 | 4.9 | |
Liberal Democrats | Isabel Nelson | 585 | 2.1 | 0.0 | 375 | 1.3 | 0.1 | |
TUSC | Ian Leech | 555 | 2.0 | New | ||||
Green | 1,363 | 4.9 | 2.4 | |||||
Solidarity | 915 | 3.3 | New | |||||
UKIP | 582 | 2.1 | 1.6 | |||||
A Better Britain – Unionist Party | 341 | 1.2 | New | |||||
Animal Welfare | 224 | 0.8 | New | |||||
Scottish Christian | 212 | 0.8 | 0.0 | |||||
RISE | 185 | 0.7 | New | |||||
Women's Equality | 158 | 0.6 | New | |||||
Independent | Andrew McCullagh | 25 | 0.1 | New | ||||
Majority | 6,482 | 23.2 | N/A | |||||
Valid Votes | 27,943 | 28,064 | ||||||
Invalid Votes | 142 | 69 | ||||||
Turnout | 28,085 | 45.8 | 6.3 | 28,133 | 45.9 | 6.4 | ||
SNP gain from Labour Co-op | Swing | 13.0 | ||||||
Notes
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Yousaf is a strong advocate of LGBT rights.[97] On the topic of marriage equality and homosexual sex he commented: "I believe that people's marriage, if they are gay, and they are married, that their marriage is no more inferior, or worth less, than my marriage as a heterosexual individual. So no, I don't subscribe to that view (that gay sex is a sin)."[98] Amid controversy over Kate Forbes' religious views, Yousaf, a practicing Muslim, said that he does not "legislate on the basis of [his] faith".[57]
Yousaf was married to former SNP worker Gail Lythgoe from 2010 to 2016.[99][100] In 2019, he married psychotherapist Nadia El-Nakla and has one child and one stepchild.[101]
In November 2016, Yousaf was fined £300 and had six penalty points added to his driving licence, after being caught by police driving a friend's car without being insured to drive it. Yousaf accepted full responsibility, saying: "I totally accept the decision. I paid the fine and told my insurers about the points. This was an honest mistake, and the result of my personal circumstances during my separation."[102]
He and his second wife made a complaint of discrimination against a Dundee children's nursery that did not offer a place to their daughter in 2021. The complaint was upheld by the Care Inspectorate who found that the nursery "did not promote fairness, equality and respect" in terms of its admission policy.[103][104] The legal action was subsequently terminated by Yousaf and Nadia. [105]
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