Humza Yousaf

At 26 years old, he was the youngest MSP to be elected to the 4th parliament.

When being sworn in, he took his oath in English and then in Urdu, reflecting his Scottish-Pakistani identity; he was dressed in a traditional sherwani decorated with a Partick Thistle tartan touch, and a plaid draped over his shoulder.

He is son of first-generation Pakistani Punjabi Muslim immigrants: his father Mian Muzaffar Yousaf Arain was born in Mian Channu, Punjab, Pakistan, and emigrated from the city with his family in the 1960s, eventually working as an accountant.

His paternal grandfather worked in the Singer sewing machine factory in Clydebank in the 1960s.

Yousaf's mother, Shaaista Bhutta, was born in Nairobi, Kenya, to a family of Pakistani-Punjabi descent.

Due to their non-African background, her family was regularly harassed and occasionally assaulted: following an incident where her mother was attacked with an axe, they emigrated to Scotland.

Humza attended Mearns Primary School in East Renfrewshire.

Yousaf was one of two ethnic-minority pupils to attend his primary school.

Yousaf was privately educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School, an independent school in Glasgow, where his Modern Studies lessons inspired him to become involved in politics.

He described the September 11 attacks as the "day that changed the world and for me" when he was 16 years old.

Prior to the attack, Yousaf was close to two pupils whom he sat next to in his registration class, but after the attack in New York, he claims that they asked him questions such as, "Why do Muslims hate America?"

Yousaf studied politics at the University of Glasgow where he was President of the Glasgow University Muslim Students Association.

Humza Haroon Yousaf (born 7 April 1985) is a Scottish politician who has served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since March 2023.

Humza Haroon Yousaf was born in Rutherglen Maternity Hospital in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire on 7 April 1985.

Yousaf joined the Scottish National Party (SNP) in 2005, while studying at Glasgow university.

Speeches by then-party leader Alex Salmond and anti-war activist Rose Gentle speaking out against the Iraq War convinced him that independence would be the only way for Scotland to avoid going to war.

In 2006, Yousaf worked in an O2 call centre, before working as a parliamentary assistant for Bashir Ahmad, from Ahmad's election as Scotland's first Muslim MSP in 2007 until Ahmad's death two years later.

Ahmad was a personal influence.

Yousaf then worked as parliamentary assistant for a few other MSPs including Anne McLaughlin, Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond, who was then First Minister.

Before his election to the Scottish Parliament, he worked in the SNP's headquarters as a communications officer.

He graduated in 2007 with a Master of Arts (MA).

From an early age, Yousaf was involved in community work, ranging from youth organisations to charity fundraising.

He was the volunteer media spokesperson for the charity Islamic Relief, worked for community radio for twelve years and on a project which provided food packages to homeless people and asylum seekers in Glasgow.

He started campaigning extensively for the SNP, including for the 2007 Scottish parliament election, which resulted in the first SNP government in Scotland and Yousaf's first job in the Scottish parliament.

In 2008, whilst working as an aide, Yousaf partook of the International Visitor Leadership Program, a professional exchange run by the United States Department of State.

Following Ahmad’s death in 2009, Yousaf went on to work as a parliamentary assistant for both Alex Salmond and Sturgeon.

He was awarded the “Future Force of Politics” at the Young Scottish Minority Ethnic Awards in 2009, which was presented to him in Glasgow City Chambers.

Prior to his election to parliament in 2011, he worked in the SNP's party headquarters as a communications officer.

Yousaf was elected to the Scottish Parliament as an additional member for the Glasgow electoral region in the 2011 election.

Appointed as a junior minister under Salmond in 2012, Yousaf served as Minister for External Affairs and International Development until 2014.

Yousaf supported Sturgeon's successful leadership bid in 2014 and after she was sworn in as first minister, he was subsequently appointed as Europe minister before being appointed Minister for Transport and the Islands in 2016.

He has been Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Glasgow Pollok since 2016, having previously been a regional MSP for Glasgow from 2011 to 2016.

Born to Pakistani immigrants in Glasgow, Yousaf studied politics at the University of Glasgow, before working as a parliamentary assistant for Bashir Ahmad, the first Muslim and second generation immigrant elected to the Scottish Parliament.

He served under his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon as justice secretary from 2018 to 2021 and then as health secretary from 2021 to 2023.

As part of a cabinet reshuffle of Sturgeon's second ministry in 2018, Yousaf was promoted to the cabinet as justice secretary.

He introduced a controversial bill to parliament which ultimately became law as the Hate Crime and Public Order Act 2021.

In 2021, he was appointed health secretary during the later phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and was responsible for the NHS's recovery, as well as the mass roll-out of the vaccination programme which began under his predecessor.

Following Sturgeon's resignation as leader of the SNP and as first minister, Yousaf won the 2023 SNP leadership election, defeating Kate Forbes with 52% to her 48% in the final stage.

Yousaf was appointed first minister on 29 March 2023, becoming the youngest person, the first Scottish Asian, and the first Muslim to serve in office.

He was sworn into the Privy Council in May 2023.