Humza Yousaf

Humza Haroon Yousaf (; born 7 April 1985) is a Scottish politician who has served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since March 2023. He served under his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon as justice secretary from 2018 to 2021 and then as health secretary from 2021 to 2023. He has been Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Glasgow Pollok since 2016, having previously been a regional MSP for Glasgow from 2011 to 2016. Born to Pakistani immigrants in Glasgow, Yousaf studied politics at the University of Glasgow, before working as a parliamentary assistant for Bashir Ahmad, the first Muslim and second generation immigrant elected to the Scottish Parliament. Following Ahmad’s death in 2009, Yousaf went on to work as a parliamentary assistant for both Alex Salmond and Sturgeon. Prior to his election to parliament in 2011, he worked in the SNP's party headquarters as a communications officer. Appointed as a junior minister under Salmond in 2012, Yousaf served as Minister for External Affairs and International Development until 2014. Yousaf supported Sturgeon's successful leadership bid in 2014 and after she was sworn in as first minister, he was subsequently appointed as Europe minister before being appointed Minister for Transport and the Islands in 2016. As part of a cabinet reshuffle of Sturgeon's second ministry in 2018, Yousaf was promoted to the cabinet as justice secretary. He introduced a controversial bill to parliament which ultimately became law as the Hate Crime and Public Order Act 2021. In 2021, he was appointed health secretary during the later phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and was responsible for the NHS's recovery, as well as the mass roll-out of the vaccination programme which began under his predecessor. Following Sturgeon's resignation as leader of the SNP and as first minister, Yousaf won the 2023 SNP leadership election, defeating Kate Forbes with 52% to her 48% in the final stage. Yousaf was appointed first minister on 29 March 2023, becoming the youngest person, the first Scottish Asian, and the first Muslim to serve in office. He was sworn into the Privy Council in May 2023.