Humza Yousaf says FM vote sends ‘strong message’ but SNP unity bid stumbles

Humza Yousaf poses with his family, including his wife, Nadia El-Nakla, and his mother and father, at the Scottish parliament on 28 March. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

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.