Humza Yousaf has said becoming Scotland’s first Muslim leader sends a strong message “to every single person out there who feels that they don’t belong”, after he was voted in by MSPs. But the first minister’s attempts to reunite his party after a bitter leadership campaign fell at the first hurdle after his main rival, Kate Forbes, turned down a position in his cabinet, saying she preferred to support him from the backbenches. Across the chamber, the Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar – who is the first ethnic minority leader of Scottish Labour, briefly laid down party political hostilities to promise Yousaf he would work alongside him to combat bigotry. He told the first minister his success was “something our grandparents would never, ever have imagined when they arrived in this country and made Scotland their home”. But all three opposition leaders used brutal criticisms first uttered by fellow candidates in the Scottish National party’s leadership contest to attack Yousaf during the formal election process. Sarwar repeated the slogan used by Forbes, Yousaf’s centre-right rival, that “continuity won’t cut it”, while the Scottish Conservative leader, Douglas Ross, said: “Forbes was right to be scathing about his record in government – and it turns out almost half of SNP voters in this election agreed with her.”
This referred to Yousaf’s narrow victory on Monday following a contest that revealed deep divisions within the party. Forbes, who was narrowly beaten by Yousaf to the leadership of the SNP, will leave the Scottish government after rejecting the offer of a significantly demoted position in Yousaf’s new cabinet. The finance secretary, who is currently on maternity leave until after Easter recess, chose to return to the backbenches rather than accept a new role as rural affairs secretary. Speaking to reporters after he was formally elected as first minister, Yousaf insisted that he was keen to include his rival in his new administration, despite the brutal attacks she made on his record in government during the turbulent leadership campaign. These were referenced on Tuesday afternoon by opposition leaders. Alex Cole-Hamilton, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, urged MSPs not to “settle for mediocrity and more of the same”, again referencing the scathing descriptions used by Forbes and the third candidate, Ash Regan, in previous weeks. Describing Yousaf as a nationalist leader “even more divisive than the last”, Ross also noted that in his final day as health secretary figures show that the number of patients seen at A&E within the target time had fallen to 63%, down from 87% when he started the job. In his first speech after he was formally confirmed as first minister after winning the SNP leadership race, Yousaf spoke frankly about the relentless racist and Islamophobic abuse he has endured in public office, revealing: “There was a time not that long ago when I felt I simply did not belong here.” And in a deliberate recommitment to the socially inclusive agenda foregrounded by his predecessor, Nicola Sturgeon, Yousaf said he he hoped his election “sends a strong message to every single person out there who feels that they don’t belong”. “No matter what anyone says, no matter who you are, whether Scotland has been your home for a day or for 10 generations, no matter your ethnicity, no matter your gender, no matter your religion, no matter your sexual orientation, your transgender identity or disability, this is your home and don’t let anyone ever tell you that you do not belong.” Yousaf won the votes of 71 fellow MSPs, with members of the SNP and Greens backing his candidacy, while Tory, Labour and Liberal Democrat members all supported their respective leaders. With Sturgeon watching from the backbenches, Yousaf waved to his family gathered in the gallery during a pause in proceedings, and shared a hug with Forbes. Immediately after the vote he told media gathered outside the chamber that he had asked Shona Robison, a key Sturgeon ally whom she entrusted to push through her gender recognition reforms, to be his deputy first minister. Robison, who is based in Dundee, previously stood down as health secretary in 2018 following months of intense criticism over her handling of NHS funding crises. In his speech, Yousaf also signalled the more gradualist approach to independence strategy he favoured during his campaign, telling MSPs the “best argument for independence is to make the best possible use of the parliament’s existing powers”. Asked later by reporters how many years until Scotland is an independent Scotland, he replied: “We will be working every single day we possibly can to advance the cause of independence. The only way of getting it is building that consistent majority.”