37 Year-old Humza Yousaf becomes Scotland’s new First Minister

37 year-old Humza Yousaf has been confirmed as Scotland’s new first minister after a vote in the Scottish Parliament.

The SNP leader was backed by his own MSPs and the Scottish Greens – guaranteeing him a majority.

All three opposition leaders stood against him but knew they had no prospect of being successful.

Mr Yousaf, who succeeds Nicola Sturgeon, is the country’s sixth first minister and first from an ethnic minority background.

He is also the youngest first minister at 37, and the first Muslim to lead a major UK party.

Following the vote, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak phoned Mr Yousaf to congratulate him.

He said he wanted to continue “working constructively with the Scottish government” to deliver on what he argued were the “people’s priorities across Scotland, including the need to half inflation, delivering growth, and cut waiting times.”

Mr Yousaf raised the question of a second independence referendum, but Mr Sunak suggested this would “distract” from “delivering on the things that are top of the priority list for people across Scotland”.