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At age 37, Yousaf would be the youngest first minister of Scotland and the primary Muslim to run the nation. His mom, carrying a headband, dabbed a tear as he spoke after the vote outcomes have been introduced.
His ascension as Scottish chief comes alongside the premiership of Rishi Sunak, a Hindu, whose mother and father are additionally South Asian. London’s mayor is Sadiq Khan, a Muslim and son of Pakistani immigrants. At the moment, Sunak, Khan and Yousaf are three of essentially the most outstanding — and highly effective — leaders in Britain.
He promised Monday to proceed his social gathering’s push to depart the UK and turn out to be a completely impartial nation. “We would be the technology that delivers independence,” he vowed. However the way forward is unclear.
The brand new chief of the SNP additionally mentioned he would concentrate on the excessive value of dwelling, enhance academic alternatives and entry to an usually overwhelmed Nationwide Well being Service.
Yousaf will substitute Nicola Sturgeon, who introduced final month that she was standing down after greater than eight years within the position, saying she not felt she might give the job her all. She additionally apprehensive she had turn out to be a polarizing determine in a rustic divided over its future in the UK.
Sturgeon turned first minister eight years in the past — taking up from her older mentor, later antagonist, the previous SNP chief Alex Salmond — after the failed independence referendum in 2014.
Sturgeon pressed then prime minister Boris Johnson to permit Scotland to stage one other vote, as a result of Brexit — which most Scottish voters opposed — had altered the panorama. However Johnson insisted that the 2014 train was a “once in a generation” vote.”
After Johnson denied her a referendum and she or he misplaced an enchantment to the British excessive courts, Sturgeon pivoted and mentioned that the subsequent Britain-wide normal election, to be held no later than January 2025, ought to function a “de facto referendum” on independence. That concept was not highly regarded.
Fervor for independence has remained principally flat. A majority backed the concept at one level within the pandemic, when many in Scotland thought Sturgeon did a greater job of dealing with the disaster than the British authorities did. However help has since fallen off.
One current ballot confirmed that 44 % of Scots favored independence as compared with 56 % who didn’t — just about the identical breakdown as in 2014, when 45 % mentioned sure and 55 % mentioned no.
The Scottish authorities beneath Sturgeon has additionally been in turmoil over Scotland’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill, which might have made it simpler for transgender folks, as younger as 16, to vary their authorized gender. The regulation was halted by the British authorities.
Yousaf is a profession politician, rising from activist to legislative aide to member of the Scottish parliament. In an in depth three-way race, Yousaf took 52 % of the vote, on the second rely, in opposition to 48 % for finance minister Kate Forbes. The choice was made by SNP members solely — with a turnout of 70 %.
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