Humza Yousaf feels like the “luckiest man in the world” after being elected as the new SNP leader.
He was declared the winner in the race to success Nicola Sturgeon and is set to become First Minister.
Out of 50,494 valid votes received, Yousaf won 24,336 (48.2 per cent) of first preference votes and 26,032 (52.1 per cent) of second preference votes, beating Kate Forbes and Ash Regan.
Tomorrow, MSPs are expected to gather at Holyrood for the final vote on who will become First Minister, and it is highly likely that will be Yousaf.
In his acceptance speech, he said: “It is hard for me to find the words to describe how honoured I am to be entrusted by our membership to be the party’s next leader and to be on the cusp of our country’s next First Minister. Can I begin by paying tribute to my colleagues, both Kate and Ash. During almost 20 hustings, it’s probably felt we’ve seen each other more than our respective families, you both have put in an incredible shift and I know that collectively we will continue to work hard as part of Team SNP.
“I also feel like the luckiest man in the world to be standing here as the leader of the SNP, a party I joined almost 20 years ago and that I love so dearly. It was the late John Smith, and he got it absolutely right when he said ‘the opportunity to serve our country is all we ask’.
“To serve my country as First Minister will be the greatest privilege and honour of my life should parliament decide to elect me as Scotland’s next First Minister tomorrow.”
He added: “And just as I will lead the SNP in the interest of all party members, not just those who voted for me, I aim to lead Scotland in the interest of all citizens. If elected as your First Minister after tomorrow’s vote in parliament, I will be a First Minister for all Scotland. I will work every minute of every day to earn and re-earn your respect and trust, I will do that by treating you, the people of Scotland, with respect. There will be no empty promises or easy sound bites when the issues in front of us are difficult and complex because Government is not easy and I won’t pretend that it is.
“My immediate priority will be to protect every Scot as far as we can from the harm inflicted by the cost of living crisis to recovery and reform and other vital policies to support our well-being, economy, to support the chances of people across this country. I will work quickly on plans to extend childcare, to improve rural housing, support small businesses and boost innovation. I will bring forward reforms of the Criminal Justice system, I will work with local government to empower local authorities.. And as first minister, I will not shy away from those exceptionally tough challenges that require the difficult decisions.
“The government that I lead will renew and redouble our efforts to lift people out of poverty to make work fair, to make our economy work for the people and to ensure as we become a more prosperous country, we also become a more fairer country too.”
Kate Forbes won 20,559 first preference votes (40 per cent) and 23,890 of second preference votes, Ash Regan won 5599 of first preference votes (11.1 per cent).
A total of 70 per cent of SNP members voted in the election.
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