Humza Yousaf nominated as Scotland’s next First Minister

MSPs have nominated Humza Yousaf as the next first minister of Scotland.

Shona Robison will serve as his deputy first minister.

The Presiding Officer will confirm parliament’s nomination in a letter to the King this afternoon.

Yousaf will be formally sworn in as first minister at a ceremony at Edinburgh’s Court of Session tomorrow morning.

He said: “This parliament has just given me the opportunity to help steer this nation’s course as we make the next stage of that journey together.

“Doing that will be the honour and the privilege of my life. I will strive every single minute of every day to be worthy of it.”

A total of 71 MSPs voted for Yousaf, who won the SNP leadership contest yesterday with 52.1 per cent of the vote.

The Greens confirmed their support for him shortly afterward.

Scottish Conservative Douglas Ross, Labour’s Anas Sarwar and Lib Dem Alex Cole-Hamilton also stood to be first minister.

After the vote, Ross said: “Voters across Scotland expect the parties in this Chamber to focus on their priorities not their own political obsessions. And any party that fails to do so should pay the price for that failure.”

Sarwar repeated his call for a fresh election, saying Yousaf did not have a mandate. He added: “Only through a change of government will we be able to truly deliver the better governance that Scotland needs.”

Cole-Hamilton welcomed Yousaf’s pledge to work with other parties. He said: “The measure of effective leadership is to raise the standard of public debate above the divisions of the past.”

Scottish Green co-leader Lorna Slater welcomed Yousaf to his post and confirmed her party would continue the Bute House Agreement. She said: “My Scottish Green colleagues and I look forward to working with the new First Minister and Scottish Government to deliver a fairer, greener, independent Scotland. It is needed now more than ever before.”