Ministerial offices (2012–2023)

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
In office 20 May 2021 – 28 March 2023
First Minister	Nicola Sturgeon
Preceded by	Jeane Freeman
Succeeded by	Michael Matheson
Cabinet Secretary for Justice
In office 26 June 2018 – 20 May 2021
First Minister	Nicola Sturgeon
Preceded by	Michael Matheson
Succeeded by	Keith Brown
Minister for Transport and the Islands
In office 18 May 2016 – 26 June 2018
First Minister	Nicola Sturgeon
Preceded by	Derek Mackay
Succeeded by	Paul Wheelhouse
Minister for Europe and International Development
In office 6 September 2012 – 18 May 2016
First Minister	Alex Salmond Nicola Sturgeon
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Alasdair Allan

Member of the Scottish Parliament
for Glasgow
(1 of 7 Regional MSPs)

In office
5 May 2011 – 5 May 2016

Personal details

Born

Humza Haroon Yousaf

7 April 1985 (age 39)
Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, Scotland

Political party

Scottish National Party

Spouses

Gail Lythgoe

(m. 2010; div. 2017)

Nadia El-Nakla

(m. 2019)

Children

Parents

Muzaffar Yousaf
Shaaista Bhutta

Residence

Bute House

Alma mater

University of Glasgow

Signature

Website

First Minister of Scotland

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.

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.

Early life

Birth and family background

Humza Haroon Yousaf was born in Rutherglen Maternity Hospital in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire on 7 April 1985. He is the son of first-generation Pakistani-Punjabi Muslim Rajput immigrants: his father Mian Muzaffar Yousaf was born in Mian Channu, Punjab, Pakistan, and emigrated from the city with his family in the 1960s, eventually working as an accountant.

His paternal grandfather worked in the Singer sewing machine factory in Clydebank in the 1960s. Yousaf's mother, Shaaista Bhutta, was born in Nairobi, Kenya, to a family of Pakistani-Punjabi descent. Due to their non-African background, her family was regularly harassed and occasionally assaulted: following an incident where her mother was attacked with an axe, they emigrated to Scotland.

Education

Humza attended Mearns Primary School in East Renfrewshire. Yousaf was one of two ethnic-minority pupils to attend his primary school. Yousaf was privately educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School, an independent school in Glasgow, where his Modern Studies lessons inspired him to become involved in politics.

He described the September 11 attacks as the "day that changed the world and for me" when he was 16 years old. Prior to the attack, Yousaf was close to two pupils whom he sat next to in his registration class, but after the attack in New York, he claims that they asked him questions such as, "Why do Muslims hate America?"

Yousaf studied politics at the University of Glasgow where he was President of the Glasgow University Muslim Students Association. He graduated in 2007 with a Master of Arts (MA). Template:Humza Yousaf sidebar

Early career and political involvement

From an early age, Yousaf was involved in community work, ranging from youth organisations to charity fundraising. He was the volunteer media spokesperson for the charity Islamic Relief, worked for community radio for twelve years and on a project which provided food packages to homeless people and asylum seekers in Glasgow.

Yousaf joined the Scottish National Party (SNP) in 2005, while studying at Glasgow university. Speeches by then-party leader Alex Salmond and anti-war activist Rose Gentle speaking out against the Iraq War convinced him that independence would be the only way for Scotland to avoid going to war. He started campaigning extensively for the SNP, including for the 2007 Scottish parliament election, which resulted in the first SNP government in Scotland and Yousaf's first job in the Scottish parliament.

In 2006, Yousaf worked in an O2 call centre, before working as a parliamentary assistant for Bashir Ahmad, from Ahmad's election as Scotland's first Muslim MSP in 2007 until Ahmad's death two years later. Ahmad was a personal influence. Yousaf then worked as parliamentary assistant for a few other MSPs including Anne McLaughlin, Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond, who was then First Minister. Before his election to the Scottish Parliament, he worked in the SNP's headquarters as a communications officer.

In 2008, whilst working as an aide, Yousaf partook of the International Visitor Leadership Program, a professional exchange run by the United States Department of State. He was awarded the “Future Force of Politics” at the Young Scottish Minority Ethnic Awards in 2009, which was presented to him in Glasgow City Chambers.

Early parliamentary career

Election to Holyrood

Official parliamentary portrait, 2011

Yousaf was elected to the Scottish Parliament as an additional member for the Glasgow electoral region in the 2011 election. At 26 years old, he was the youngest MSP to be elected to the 4th parliament. When being sworn in, he took his oath in English and then in Urdu, reflecting his Scottish-Pakistani identity; he was dressed in a traditional sherwani decorated with a Partick Thistle tartan touch, and a plaid draped over his shoulder.

He served on the SNP's backbenches and was a member of the parliament's justice and public audit committees. On 25 May 2011, Yousaf was appointed as a Parliamentary Liaison Officer to the Office of the First Minister, remaining in this post until 4 September 2012.

Junior ministerial career (2012–2018)

On 5 September 2012, First Minister Alex Salmond appointed Yousaf as Minister for External Affairs and International Development, responsible for external affairs, international development; fair trade policy and diaspora. This junior ministerial appointment saw him working under the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs. He was the first Scottish Asian and Muslim to be appointed as a minister to the Scottish Government.

Yousaf signs Nicola Sturgeon's nomination for first minister, 19 November 2014

In October 2013, he outlined the SNP's plans to set out the United Nations target for overseas aid at 0.7% in an independent Scotland and accused the UK Government of going back on its promise in the 2010 coalition agreement to guarantee that level of spending. Yousaf also outlined that an independent Scotland would "add a progressive voice to global issues promoting peace, equality and fairness" and added independence would be "achieved through a democratic, peaceful means without a single drop of blood being spilled and engaging with all the diverse communities that make up our rich tapestry in Scotland.".

When Nicola Sturgeon became First Minister in November 2014 following Salmond's resignation, she kept Yousaf as a junior minister, although the name of the position he held was changed to the Minister for Europe and International Development.

On 18 May 2016, he was appointed as Minister for Transport and the Islands following the formation of Sturgeon's second government.

Cabinet Secretary for Justice (2018–2021)

On 26 June 2018, Sturgeon reshuffled her cabinet. She promoted Yousaf to the Scottish Cabinet to serve as Cabinet Secretary for Justice, succeeding Michael Matheson. In the year prior to his appointment (2017–18), 244,504 crimes were recorded by the police in Scotland; in the final year of his tenure (2020–21), the figure was 246,511.

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care (2021–2023)

Yousaf at the COP26 Climate Action for Health event, 2021

In the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, Yousaf was re-elected as the MSP for the Glasgow Pollok constituency. The SNP fell two seats short of an overall majority in the election, but remained the largest party, with more than double the seats of the Scottish Conservatives. Sturgeon formed a third administration and appointed Yousaf as the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, succeeding Jeane Freeman, who stepped down at the election.

COVID-19 pandemic

For more details, see COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland

Yousaf at Scottish Government press conference on COVID-19 in 2020.

Yousaf entered office amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2021 he said that ten children up to the age of nine had been admitted to Scottish hospitals in the previous week "because of COVID". Professor Steve Turner, Scotland officer for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, contradicted him and said that children’s wards were “not seeing a rise in cases with Covid”. He added that the children in question had been hospitalised for other reasons. Yousaf clarified his statement and apologised for "any undue alarm".

In July, the World Health Organisation concluded that six out of Europe's ten virus hotspots were in Scotland. Tayside topped the list with 1,002 cases per 100,000 head of population over the previous fortnight. The Scottish Government was accused of being ‘missing in action’ after it emerged that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Deputy First Minister John Swinney and Yousaf were all on holiday. Yousaf said he had promised to take his stepdaughter to Harry Potter World, tweeting that: "Most important job I have is being a good father, step-father & husband to my wife and kids. In the last seven months they’ve had virtually no time from me."

NHS waiting times

In September 2021, the average waiting time for an ambulance in Scotland soared to six hours and Yousaf urged the public to "think twice" before they called 999. Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane criticised the remark as “reckless messaging [that] could put lives at risk” and instead urged people to call an ambulance if they thought they needed one. Following reports of elderly Scots dying whilst waiting for an ambulance to arrive, Yousaf asked the Ministry of Defence for help and soldiers from the British Army were deployed to drive ambulances. Audit Scotland concluded that 500 people died in Scotland in 2021 due to delayed access to emergency treatment.

2023 SNP leadership election

Leadership campaign logo

On 15 February 2023, Nicola Sturgeon resigned as Leader of the Scottish National Party and First Minister of Scotland, which triggered a leadership election within the SNP to elect her successor. On 18 February, Yousaf declared his candidacy for leader in an interview with the Sunday Mail. He committed to challenging the UK Government over its decision to block the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill and stated he wanted to increase support for Scottish independence before delivering a referendum.

Yousaf launched his leadership campaign in Clydebank on 20 February. He said he was not "wedded" with using the next UK general election as a de facto referendum on Scottish independence and that one of the issues would be the inability for 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds to vote. Yousaf reaffirmed his commitment to defend the Scottish Parliament against the UK Government's Section 35 order, which aims to block the gender reform bill. He added that he could not pretend the bill had not "caused some division" within his party and stated he was "keen to work with those who have got real concerns".

During the campaign, Yousaf faced questions on why he missed the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014. He said at the time that he was meeting the Pakistani consul to discuss the case of a Scotsman facing the death penalty for blasphemy. Yousaf stated his support for the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, while his opponents Kate Forbes and Ash Regan opposed it.

As confirmed on 27 March 2023, Yousaf had won the leadership race, after being victorious in both rounds of voting. He won the first round with 48.2% of first-preference votes, ahead of Forbes who received 40.7%, and Regan who received 11.1%, thus eliminating Regan due to finishing last. He then also won the final round of voting with 52.1% of the vote compared to Forbes in second place with 47.9%. Yousaf accepted the leadership at an event at Murrayfield Stadium where he promised to lead the party in the interest of all its members.

First Minister of Scotland (2023–present)

Main page: Premiership of Humza Yousaf

Yousaf is formally sworn in as First Minister, at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, March 2023

Yousaf was sworn in as first minister of Scotland on 29 March 2023, becoming the youngest person and the first Scottish Asian and Muslim to hold the office since it was created in 1999. In October 2023, The New York Times called him a "trailblazer shaping our time".

Domestic policy

Yousaf will challenge the UK Government's section 35 order of the Gender Recognition Reform Bill. During his first meeting with the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, Yousaf requested a section 30 order to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence. Sunak has rejected the request.

Yousaf launches the fourth Building a New Scotland paper

In June 2023, Yousaf launched the fourth Building a New Scotland paper which focused on the constitution of an independent Scotland. Yousaf declared that there would be a written constitution for an independent Scotland, claiming that such a constitution would set a benchmark in which no future Scottish Government could fall short of as it would be a constitution enshrined into Scots law. Yousaf declared that the government had placed a commitment to a constitution that gave the population "the right to access a system of healthcare free at the point of need, as well as rules on land ownership and environmental provisions". The previous three papers in the series were published by Yousaf's predecessor, Nicola Sturgeon.

Opposition parties in Scotland criticised Yousaf and the Scottish Government for "focusing on the wrong priorities". A spokesman for the UK Government said "We want to work constructively with the Scottish government to tackle our shared challenges because that is what families and businesses in Scotland expect" and that "this is not the time to be talking about distracting constitutional change".

On 27 July 2023, Yousaf launched the fifth paper in the Building a New Scotland series entitled Citizenship in an independent Scotland. The prospectus set out the Scottish Government's proposals for citizenship and passports in an independent Scotland, with the Scottish Government seeking to pursue an "inclusive" model similar to that in the Republic of Ireland. People born outside Scotland would automatically be entitled to Scottish citizenship under the plans if at least one of their parents were Scottish, and Scottish people resident in Scotland at the time of independence would be entitled to hold dual Scottish and British citizenship should be desire. The paper commits and independent Scotland to remaining a member of the Common Travel Area, meaning that there would be no hard border between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom on land or at sea. Scottish citizens would have the right to a Scottish passport on the day of independence, however, British passports held by Scots after independence would remain valid until their date or expiry.

Economic policy

Yousaf meets with the International Monetary Fund's Gita Gopinath, June 2023

Yousaf entered office amid the ongoing cost of living crisis. He supports the introduction of the deposit return scheme, but not in its current form, suggesting it should exclude small businesses. He has emphasised the need for a wellbeing economy and has proposed introducing a new wealth tax in order to raise money for more welfare benefits.

Deposit Return Scheme

Yousaf accused the UK Government of placing the future of the Scottish Government's Deposit Return Scheme "in grave danger" in June 2023. His comments came following a UK Government warning that it may block the inclusion of glass in the recycling scheme, and that policy surrounding deposit return schemes should be "consistent UK wide". The intervention from the UK Government in an area of Scottish Government control sparked further consistutional tensions between Holyrood and Westminster, with Yousaf stating that the intervention is a "major erosion of the devolution settlement".

Yousaf at a cabinet meeting in March 2023

In early June 2023, Yousaf wrote to UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urging him to revoke the decision regarding the removal of glass from the deposit return scheme by Monday 5 June. In the letter, Yousaf claimed that "the UK Government’s demands, including the removal of glass from DRS, would impact the environment, detrimentally affect businesses based in Scotland, and threaten the viability of the scheme".

Education policy

Yousaf with a group of primary school children at the launch of the Reading Schools initiative, August 2023

Yousaf was challenged to review the long running Scottish Government policy of free university tuition, with University of Edinburgh vice-chancellor Peter Mathieson saying that allowing wealthier families to pay was "worthy of calm consideration". Yousaf disputed calls for a review of the policy, saying that he was "very proud" of the SNP's long opposition to any fees for education in Scotland. He highlighted his support and commitment to the continuation of free tuition in Scotland by saying he was "absolutely committed to ensuring we have free education" and that "university education should be on the ability to learn not the ability to pay".

Yousaf was largely criticised for saying he would stop the roll out of free school meals in Scotland in favour of a more targeted approach. Yousaf was urged to reconsider this decision, with opponents arguing that the stop of the roll out would by a "betrayal" of children in Scotland. Yousaf used his own daughter as an example, and argued as to whether his daughter should be entitled to free school meals considering Yousaf's high salary as First Minister of Scotland. Opponents in the Scottish Parliament accused Yousaf of "flip flopping" over free school meals policy. After mounting pressure on the backdrop of his statement, Yousaf pledged his support and commitment to free school meals and reaffirmed that the policy of free school meals in Scotland would not be ending and confirmed the Scottish Government's plans to introduce free school meals entitlement in secondary school, however, Yousaf did not provide a timescale for this delivery.

In August 2023, Yousaf launched the Reading Schools project, a replacement initiative of the First Minister's Reading Challenge which was established under Yousaf's predecessor Nicola Sturgeon. 371 schools across Scotland have become accredited as "reading schools", with the hope of an additional 511 schools looking to have joined the project in the future. This is "an accreditation programme for schools that are committing to building a reading culture for their learners and communities". Yousaf has claimed that it is the intention of the Scottish Government to "see every school in Scotland become part of the scheme in the next three to five years" to promote and improve reading in Scottish schools.

Programme for government

In September 2023, Yousaf launched his first Programme for Government. The programme for government focuses on reducing poverty, delivering economic growth, tackle climate change and provide high quality public services.

Political positions

Yousaf in 2018

Yousaf has been described as socially progressive. He is a follower of his predecessor, Nicola Sturgeon, and is in favour of continuing her socially progressive policies. This formed a major part of his leadership election campaign in March 2023, and he was successfully elected as Leader of the Scottish National Party. He supports Scottish republicanism, stating: "I believe we should be citizens first, not subjects." He attended the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Westminster Abbey in London on 6 May 2023.

As a member of the SNP, a pro-Scottish independence party, Yousaf voted "Yes" in the 2014 independence referendum. He has supported the idea for holding a second referendum, often informally described as "indyref2". Yousaf has raised concerns over using the next UK general election as a de facto referendum as it would not allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote. He also believes another referendum should only be held if there is clear public support, stating "It isn't good enough to have polls that put support for independence at 50 per cent or 51%."

In 2020, Yousaf expressed support for increasing the racial diversity among top government positions in Scotland.

On 24 June 2023, at an event at the Caird Hall in Dundee, Yousaf restated the SNP's intention of using the next general election as a de facto referendum to demand Scottish independence. In October 2023 he announced that this would take the form of interpreting the SNP winning a majority of UK parliamentary seats in Scotland as a vote for independence.

Personal life

Yousaf's family at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, 2023 (From left to right; his step-daughter, himself, his wife, Nadia, and mother Shaaista)

Yousaf is a strong advocate of LGBT rights. Yousaf was married to former SNP worker Gail Lythgoe from 2010 to 2016. In 2019, he married psychotherapist Nadia El-Nakla and has one child and one stepchild.

Honours

He was sworn in as a member of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council on 17 May 2023 at Buckingham Palace. Membership of the privy council is lifelong and members are addressed as "The Right Honourable".

Humza Yousaf facts for kids

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