Humza Yousaf is set to become Scotland's new First Minister after being named the new leader of the Scottish National Party following a two-week ballot of party members. The 37-year-old beat rival Kate Forbes by 52 percent to 48 percent after third placed Ash Regan was eliminated after the first round of voting.

The new First Minister will now be chosen on Tuesday, when a vote by Members of the Scottish Parliament takes place at Holyrood, Scotland's seat of government.

In his victory speech, Yousaf said he was the "luckiest man in the world" and said his priorities would be promoting Scottish independence, the net zero transition and the benefits of immigration. 

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The 37-year-old will replace outgoing leader Nicola Sturgeon, who announced her shock resignation in February after more than eight years in power. Yousaf is the first Muslim to lead a major UK party and is also the first ethnic minority leader of one of the UK's devolved governments, which include Wales, Northern Ireland and of course Scotland. 

He previously served as Transport Secretary before being appointed Health Minister in May 2021.

Scottish independence

Yousaf is expected to continue many of the policies championed by Sturgeon, who has repeatedly campaigned for independence from the UK and a second referendum. However, while Yousaf is also pro-independence, he has distanced himself from Sturgeon's plan to use the next election as a de-facto referendum. 

Instead, he says he wants to work towards building a "consistent" majority, adding that it "isn't good enough to have polls that put support for independence at 50 percent or 51 percent."

In 2014, Yousaf voted 'yes' in the Scottish referendum. Another priority for Yousaf will be continuing the SNP's partnership with the Green Party, having endorsed the alliance during his leadership bid.

The partnership isn't a coalition but is vital in a hung Scottish parliament in which the SNP holds 64 seats compared to the collective 64 held by other parties.

Upon winning the leadership contest, Yousaf said he was keen to exploit Scotland's natural energy resources and make the country a leader in the transition to net zero.

A fractious leadership contest

Over the past few weeks Yousaf has battled it out with two other candidates, Regan and Forbes, to become Scotland's next First Minister. The leadership race was a fractious one, with Yousaf and Forbes - who are both serving cabinet members - attacking their own government's record.

Forbes, who is Scotland's Finance Minister, questioned Yousaf's competence, during a live television debate, while Yousaf hit back over her views on gay marriage. Forbes admitted she would vote against gay marriage and added that her Christian faith meant it was "wrong" to have children outside of marriage.

The remarks saw her lose support from a large number of SNP politicians and paved the way for Yousaf to win the leadership contest. However, Yousaf himself was attacked over his decision not to take part in a final vote on gay marriage in 2014. 

He claimed he did so because of an unavoidable meeting about a Scot who was on death row on blasphemy charges.

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