Scotland’s new First Minister Humza Yousaf is a continuity leader for the SNP – he’ll be just as bad as Nicola Sturgeon
AS Humza Yousaf soaked up the applause of the SNP faithful yesterday, his party’s political enemies were rubbing their hands with glee.
For SNP’s new leader Mr Yousaf, who will be formally voted Scotland’s sixth First Minister by its parliament today, is seen as an electoral liability.
Now Conservative and Labour politicians in Westminster are eyeing Scotland’s electoral map currently painted in a swathe of SNP yellow as ripe for the taking. So, why are opponents licking their lips with relish?
Well, for one thing he’s not Nicola Sturgeon.
Despite her myriad policy failings, the departing First Minister was a gifted political communicator.
A politician who projected Scotland on to the international stage, she guided her nation through the pandemic showing steadfast leadership.
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Avowed anti-monarchist Mr Yousaf may have labelled himself the “continuity candidate” but he lacks much of Ms Sturgeon’s iron-willed charisma that saw her win eight elections as leader.
‘Wildest dreams’
The public north of the border seem to agree.
Though a clear winner in a three-horse race with party members, among the Scots voters in general he trailed behind anti-gay marriage Kate Forbes in a recent poll.
Ipsos Scotland found Ms Forbes had a “net” favourability rating of -8 while Mr Yousaf’s score was -20.
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Mr Yousaf has been seen as gaffe-prone in his decade holding various Scottish government portfolios.
During the “poisonous” SNP leadership race, Ms Forbes called Mr Yousaf as a “mediocrity” during one TV debate.
Turn on Twitter and soon you’ll see an excruciating video clip of him crashing a scooter he was attempting to navigate down a corridor.
And listen to this for an eviscerating take down of a party colleague.
Ms Forbes asked him: “You were a transport minister and the trains were never on time, when you were Justice Secretary the police were stretched to breaking point, and now as health minister we’ve got record-high waiting times.
“What makes you think you can do a better job as First Minister?”
So who is Humza Yousaf?
Born in Glasgow in 1985 his accountant father Muzaffar was originally from Mian Channu, Pakistan, while his mother Shaaista Bhutta, was born in Kenya to parents of South Asian heritage.
In his acceptance speech yesterday his final words were to acknowledge his paternal grandparents who worked in the Singer sewing machine factory in Clydebank and on Glasgow’s buses.
He said that, arriving from the Punjab with little English, they wouldn’t have believed in their “wildest dreams” that their grandson would become their new homeland’s First Minister two generations later.
Sent to fee-paying Hutchesons’ Grammar in Glasgow, Mr Yousaf then studied politics at Glasgow University.
The student was inspired to join the SNP in 2005 after hearing Alex Salmond railing against the Iraq war.
After a brief stint working in a call centre he started as an assistant to the late MSP Bashir Ahmad in 2007.
Two years later he was recruited by Mr Salmond — then First Minister — as a parliamentary aide.
His rise was swift. In 2011, he became the youngest ever MSP, age 26, and a year later the Scottish Government’s first Muslim minister.
In 2016, under Nicola Sturgeon, he became Transport Minister. Embarrassingly he was fined £300 for driving a friend’s car without insurance during his tenure.
Then, while Health minister and recovering from a badminton injury in 2021, he was seen toppling in spectacular fashion from a mobility scooter as he whizzed through the corridors of the Scottish Parliament.
The much-tweeted footage has drawn comparisons to the video of Neil Kinnock being engulfed by waves on Brighton Beach when he was announced as Labour leader in 1983.
During the leadership campaign, Mr Yousaf pledged to challenge the UK Government’s veto on Ms Sturgeon’s controversial gender reform bill in the courts.
He stressed he’d only push ahead if legal advice suggested a challenge would be successful
Yet, he appears to be swimming against the tide of public opinion.
Polls show Scots are 2-1 against her gender reforms that would have made self-ID easier.
And the 315-year Union between England and Scotland appears safer than any time since the 2014 referendum on the issue.
The new SNP leader has distanced himself from Ms Sturgeon’s plan to use the next General Election as a referendum on independence.
Instead, he wants to seek a “consistent majority” saying it “Isn’t good enough to have polls that put support for independence at 50 or 51 per cent”.
Key battleground
Yet a recent poll puts Yes for independence at just 45 per cent, the same figure as in 2014.
Mr Yousaf’s government has a poor record and is haemorrhaging members.
One in seven Scots are currently on NHS waiting lists while Scotland is Europe’s drug death capital.
Little wonder, then, that opponents see Scotland as a key battleground at the next election.
When Labour last won a general election under Tony Blair in 2005 it claimed 41 seats. Today it has one.
As the SNP’s popularity wanes, some polls suggest Labour would currently win 14 seats in Scotland
Every seat grabbed north of the border whittles away at Rishi Sunak’s majority.
Yet, Tories think they may also pick up votes from a fading SNP and add to their tally of six north of the border.
Scottish Conservatives’ leader Douglas Ross told me last week he’s “certain” his party can add to its six seats “at the expense of the SNP”.
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Mr Yousaf’s leadership credentials have yet to be tested.
Yet those who celebrate the Union between England and Scotland will rest a little easier.
