Changing of the guard in Scotland. After a particularly bitter campaign, Humza Yousaf was chosen Monday by the separatists to succeed Nicola Sturgeon at the head of the Scottish National Party (SNP), becoming de facto the new Prime Minister of this constituent region of the United Kingdom.
In his victory speech, Mr Yousaf, 37, promised to continue the fight for Scottish independence, saying that the “people” of Scotland needed it “now, more than ever” and that this ” generation” would eventually get it.
Minister of Health since 2021, Mr Yousaf is the first Muslim to lead a major political party in the UK.
No candidate having collected more than 50% of the votes in the first round, he won the second count, collecting 52% of the votes, against the Minister of Finance Kate Forbes (48%), with controversial conservative positions.
More than 50,000 SNP members took part in the vote, sparked last month by the surprise resignation of Nicola Sturgeon, who had ruled Scotland with an iron fist for eight years.
“That tells us that there won’t be a huge amount of change in the SNP. Humza Yousaf is not as seasoned a communicator and debater as Nicola Sturgeon. But the rest will just be more of the same,” said James Mitchell, professor of political science at the University of Edinburgh.
Humza Yousaf, on the other hand, inherits a divided party, whose tensions, hitherto barely perceptible to the general public, have been exposed in broad daylight in this race for the succession.
During the six-week campaign, the party was rocked by serial resignations, ideological differences and even differences over how to achieve independence. That Kate Forbes, fervent Christian, anti-abortion and against marriage for all, obtained almost half of the votes among the militants betrays in particular the presence of a strong reactionary current within the SNP, which contrasts with the progressive image that the party has been trying to give itself for a decade.
“I’ve been covering Scottish politics for a long time, and I have to say I’ve never seen anything so bitter as this succession race,” James Mitchell said.
For the expert, these heartbreaks are however more attributable to the “ceiling” of the independence movement than to opposing political visions. “I think there is a lot of frustration that the SNP has not moved towards independence,” he said. The movement seems blocked and increasingly on the defensive. »
In this context, the mandate of Humza Yousaf at the head of the SNP promises to be difficult. He must not only unify the party, but also breathe new life into it, as its record is increasingly contested after 16 long years in power. If the trend continues, the formation could lose a few seats in the next elections (scheduled for early 2025), in particular to the benefit of Labour, which seems to want to return to the game after a few years of disgrace in Scotland.
The beginning of the end for the independence dream? It is an idea that is beginning to circulate. But Edinburgh activist and former SNP candidate DJ Johnston Smith thinks just the opposite. “It’s not just one person holding this party together. Nicola was a fraction of the equation. Humza is another part of the equation. I think the desire for independence will grow in the streets and in the communities, regardless of what he does as party and government leader. »
Born in Glasgow, Humza Yousaf has been an SNP MP since 2011. His career path is not without fault. He was criticized as Minister of Health, about the waiting time in the emergency room.
But for James Mitchell, it is especially necessary to underline the success of this son of Pakistani immigrants, who becomes the very first Muslim to lead a region of the United Kingdom.
“This is hugely significant, considering that until recently Scotland was not recognized as a multicultural, multi-ethnic and multi-faith nation. Symbolically speaking, this is the most important thing in this whole story…”
