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A Kenyan mother has expressed joy after her son, Humza Yousaf, was on Monday 27, elected party leader of the Scottish National Party SNP to replace outgoing First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
With Yousaf’s party controlling the majority in the house, it is almost certain he will be appointed First Minister and head of government on Tuesday, March 28 according to Scottish laws.
Once a First Minister has tendered their resignation to the King, the Scottish Parliament has to nominate one of its members for appointment as their successor, which has traditionally been the leader of the majority party, in this case Yousaf.
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“I will be a First Minister for all of Scotland. I will work every minute of every day to earn and to re-earn your respect and your trust.
“My immediate priority will be to continue to protect every Scot as far as we possibly can from the harm inflicted by the cost-of-living crisis, to recover and reform our NHS and other vital public services, [and] to support our well-being economy to improve the life chances of people right across this country,” he said in his acceptance speech on Monday.
Yousaf won the hotly contested election by 52% against Finance Secretary Kate Forbes who garnered 47.9% of the votes from Members of the Scottish Parliament in the second round.
Mother’s joy
Yousaf's mother, Shaaista Bhutta, who was born into a South Asian family in Kenya celebrated her son’s journey to becoming the youngest First Minister of Scotland at 37 years, and the first Muslim to run the nation.
Speaking to STV after the win, she expressed the joy of watching her son rise to the top despite being from a minority community.
“It’s your son. He’s campaigning every day, working very hard and you just want everything to work out. Negative stuff is always hard to take, especially when there’s a lot of mudslinging against your son.
“The last few months have been nerve-wracking and now everything has come together and we are so relieved and really proud of him,” she said.
She teased that even after assuming the position of head of government, she will always view him as her son and even ‘clip’ him if he doesn’t listen to her.
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“I’m still his mum. I’ll clip him around the ear if he doesn’t. But that’s just a joke. We are very, very proud of him and looking at the future we are very positive as well because of what he’ll bring to his leadership,” she said.
In his response on Twitter, Yousaf also teased that he was not sure his mom was joking.
"I am not sure it was a joke! Can always count on my mum to keep me grounded, quite right too. Wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the love and support of my parents and family," he said.
Interesting fact about Scotland
Interestingly, Scotland boasts more than 790 offshore islands, with around 93 of them being inhabited.
These islands are divided into four primary groups: Shetland, Orkney, the Inner Hebrides, and the Outer Hebrides, with additional smaller clusters like the Small Isles.
While a significant percentage of the population is concentrated on a few select islands, many of these land masses have very sparse populations.