New Delhi: The son of first-generation immigrants from Pakistan, Glasgow-born Humza Yousaf is now Scotland’s new first minister.
After being chosen to succeed outgoing first minister Nicola Sturgeon by Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) Tuesday, Yousaf became the first Muslim leader of a devolved government in the United Kingdom and also the first Muslim leader of a major UK party.
For many, Humza is the role model for multiracial and inclusive nationalism in Scotland. The Telegraph has described his election as “one of the great triumphs of social mobility”.
Yousaf (37) defeated rivals Kate Forbes and Ash Reagan in a vote of members of the Scottish Nationalist Party to clinch the leadership of the party Monday.
His story underpins the emergence of a changing political landscape in modern-day Britain, with those of South-Asian descent occupying positions key to the wheels of power.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar are all children of immigrants. Besides being the first generation of their families to be born in the UK, all three hold positions of leadership between Westminster and Holyrood.
“Regardless of your politics, Humza represents a glint of hope for the ever-growing South-Asian population in the UK,” UK-based finance professional Aaron Koshy told ThePrint.
Given both Yousaf and Sunak’s Punjabi lineages, and the continued talk of an independence referendum in Scotland, many have speculated on the ironies this presents given the partition of erstwhile Punjab in 1947.
During the first phone call between Sunak and Yousaf Tuesday, the new first minister raised the spectre of a second independence referendum. However, the BBC reported that Sunak said this would “distract” from “delivering on the things that are top of the priority list for people across Scotland”.
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‘Scotland should be proud’
Yousaf’s father, Mian Muzaffar Yousaf, came to Scotland from Mian Channu in Pakistan’s Punjab in the 1960s. His mother, Shaaista Bhutta, moved from Kenya to Scotland also in the 1960s. His paternal grandfather worked at a Singer sewing machine factory in the industrial town of Clydebank when the family first emigrated to Scotland.
In February this year, when Humza announced his intention to take part in the race to be first minister, he made the announcement from the Clydebank Town Hall. Alluding to his family’s origins, he had said at the time that “Scotland should be proud that a grandson of an immigrant can seek to become the next first minister”.
After being declared as the winner of the leadership race in the SNP, Humza said, “As immigrants of this country who knew barely a word of English, they [grandparents] could not have imagined in their wildest dreams that their grandson would one day be on the cusp of being the next first minister of Scotland.”
However, Yousaf has also spoken in the past of racism he faced growing up. When he launched bid for leadership, the BBC reported that he had to call the police due to racist threats he faced. Two adults, a male and a female were arrested and charged on the basis of his complaint.
‘Continuity candidate’
Educated at the Hutchesons’ Grammar private school in Glasgow and later at Glasgow University, Humza worked at a call centre before taking the plunge into politics.
His foray into politics was as a parliamentary assistant to the first South-Asian Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) Bashir Ahmad. He was then a parliamentary aide to former first minister Alex Salmond.
Yousaf was first elected as a list MSP from Glasgow region in 2011. He was one of seven regional (list) MSPs elected to Scottish Parliament from each of Scotland’s eight parliamentary regions. At just 26, he was then the youngest MSP.
Former first minister Salmond then elevated Yousaf to a minister for Europe and international development in 2012. Consequently, under Nicola Sturgeon’s leadership, he continued to serve as a minister, including holding the important health portfolio.
Touted as the “continuity candidate” in the SNP leadership election, Yousaf is expected to chalk out a similar path on many of Sturgeon’s policies on the environment, relations with the EU, gender reforms — that were blocked by the UK government — and tax rates.
“Sturgeon is believed to have deliberately given Yousaf the toughest cabinet posts to harden him for leadership, and she has repeatedly defended his record, particularly on Scotland’s long NHS (National Health Service) waiting lists and record delays in A&E (accident and emergency) departments. Labour argues that Yousaf has consistently botched his job and has “failed upwards,” The Guardian reported.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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