Humza Yousaf, the new leader of the Scottish National Party, has pledged to kick the drive for Scottish independence into “fifth gear.”
After the SNP and Scottish Green parliamentarians in Holyrood backed him to succeed Nicola Sturgeon on Tuesday, the 37-year-old became the country’s youngest prime minister.
After winning the election, he will be sworn in as first minister of Scotland at the Court of Session in Edinburgh on Wednesday, and then face rival party leaders in his first First Minister’s Questions on Thursday.
In his victory speech, Mr Yousaf stated, “I am a proud Scot and an equally proud European, and Scotland is a European nation.
“We want to return to the European Union and play our part in building a continent that is based on human rights, on peace, prosperity and social justice.”
Mr Yousaf defeated Kate Forbes and Ash Regan in the race to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as Scotland’s next First Minister.
In the first round of the leadership election, none of the three candidates received 50% or more of the vote, and Ms Regan was eliminated after finishing third.
After second preference votes were distributed, Mr Yousaf narrowly defeated Ms Forbes by 52% to 48% in the second round.
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