Humza Yousaf

Humza Haroon Yousaf (/ˈhʌmzə ˈjʊsəf/;^[1] born 7 April 1985) is a Scottish politician. He was the leader of the Scottish National Party and the First Minister of Scotland from March 2023 to May 2024. He announced his resignation from both positions in April 2024.^[2][3][4]

The Right Honourable Humza Yousaf MSP
Yousaf in 2023
First Minister of Scotland
In office 29 March 2023 – 7 May 2024
Monarch	Charles III
Deputy	Shona Robison
Preceded by	Nicola Sturgeon
Succeeded by	John Swinney
Leader of the Scottish National Party
In office 27 March 2023 – 6 May 2024
Depute	Keith Brown
Preceded by	Nicola Sturgeon
Succeeded by	John Swinney
Ministerial offices (2012–2023) Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care In office 20 May 2021 – 28 March 2023 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon Preceded by Jeane Freeman Succeeded by Michael Matheson Cabinet Secretary for Justice In office 26 June 2018 – 20 May 2021 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon Preceded by Michael Matheson Succeeded by Keith Brown Minister for Transport and the Islands In office 18 May 2016 – 26 June 2018 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon Preceded by Derek Mackay Succeeded by Paul Wheelhouse Minister for Europe and International Development[a] In office 6 September 2012 – 18 May 2016 First Minister Alex Salmond Nicola Sturgeon Preceded by Office established Succeeded by Alasdair Allan
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow Pollok
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 May 2016
Preceded by	Johann Lamont
Majority	7,105 (21.0%)
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow (1 of 7 Regional MSPs)
In office 5 May 2011 – 5 May 2016
Personal details
Born	Humza Haroon Yousaf (1985-04-07) 7 April 1985 (age 40) Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, Scotland
Political party	Scottish National Party
Spouse(s)	Gail Lythgoe ​ ​ (m. 2010; div. 2017)​ Nadia El-Nakla ​ (m. 2019)​
Children	1
Residence	Bute House
Education	Hutchesons' Grammar School
Alma mater	University of Glasgow
Website	humzayousaf.scot First Minister of Scotland

Career

He has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament since 2016, representing Glasgow Pollok. In 2021, he became health secretary during the COVID-19 pandemic and was responsible for the NHS' recovery and roll out of the vaccination programme.

In 2023, he was one of the three candidates hoping to replace Nicola Sturgeon as the First Minister of Scotland and leader of the SNP. On the 27 March 2023, it was announced he had won the leadership race. On 29 March 2023 he was confirmed as the First Minister of Scotland.

Yousaf was the first Scottish Asian and Muslim to serve as First Minister. He was also the youngest person to be First Minister.^[5][6]

On 29 April 2024, Yousaf announced that he was resigning as leader of the SNP and Scottish First Minister.^[2][3][4]

Personal life

Yousaf was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 7 April 1985.^[7] He is the son of Pakistani father and Kenyan mother of Pakistani-Punjabi descent.^[8]

Yousaf was married to former SNP worker Gail Lythgoe from 2010 to 2016.^[9][10] In 2019, he married psychotherapist Nadia El-Nakla from Dundee. He has two children with her.^[11] In November 2019, Yousaf discovered text messages sent to El-Nakla by Craig Melville, an SNP councillor, with whom she was having a sexual affair, after using software to recover messages sent to her phone. The couple eventually filed for divorce however they later reconciled after Yousaf forgave her.^{[12][13][14][15]}

Notes

1. External Affairs and International Development (2012–14)