Humza Yousaf eyes Scotland’s top post

S cottish Health M inister Hum za

Yo usaf has announced he would run in th e leadersh ip co ntest to r ep l ac e Ni co l a S tu rg eo n as S c o ttis h Nati o nal P arty ( S NP ) lead er and first minister

Yousaf becomes the first to publicly announce his intention t o s t a n d i n t h e r a c e a f t e r Sturgeon's surprise resignation earlier in the week saying she had become too divisive and too tired to carry on I have decided to put myself forward as a candidate to become Scotland's next First Minister, and Leader of the SNP," the 37-year old, who has been a member of the Scottish parliament since 2011 and has a l s o h e l d s e v e r a l m i n i s t e r i a l roles, said on Twitter

John Swinney, the 58-yearold deputy first minister, ruled himself out, saying his decision not to be a candidate was to create the space for a "fresh perspect i v e o n t h e g o v e r n i n g S N P s a i m s , i n c l u d i n g o n i n d e p e ndence The SNP has said it will choose a new leader within six weeks through a ballot of its members, which will close on March 27 Sturgeon, 52, said she was not leaving politics and that she would stay on until a succes- sor has been picked Her unexpected exit has left a question mark over the SNP's fight for independence as the W e s t m i n s t e r g o v e r n m e n t h a s blocked its attempts to hold a second vote after a 2014 referendum in which Scotland voted 55% to 45% to remain part of the U n i t e d K i n g d o m T h e l o s s o f Sturgeon, regarded by many as the best political communicator in Britain, also has the potential to influence the outcome of the next national election if it helps the opposition Labour Party to regain some of the seats it once held in Scotland Humza is the first non-white and first Muslim cabinet minister in the Scottish Government A member of the SNP, he has been the MSP for Glasgow Pollok s i n c e 2 0 1 6 , h a v i n g p r e v i o u s l y