INTERNATIONAL

Pakistan origin Humza Yousaf becomes first Muslim minister of Scotland

By News Desk

March 29, 2023

On Monday, Humza Yousaf, originally from Pakistan, made history by becoming Scotland’s first minority ethnic leader at 29.

Humza Yousaf on March 28 won the Scottish National Party (SNP) leadership contest and is set to be named as Scotland’s new First Minister, replacing Nicola Sturgeon.

“It is hard for me to find the words to describe just how honoured I am to be entrusted by our membership of the SNP to be the party’s next leader and to be on the cusp of being our country’s next First Minister,” Mr. Yousaf said in his victory speech in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh.

He touched upon his migrant roots in his victory speech as he shared that his grandparents arrived in Scotland in the 1960s barely able to speak a word of English and would not have believed “in their wildest dreams” that their grandson would one day be set to be elected the First Minister of Scotland.

Nevertheless, shortly after he announced his intention to bring Scotland’s independence, his request for another independence vote was denied by the office of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.