The pro-independence Scottish National Party on Monday elected Humza Yousaf, the country’s health secretary, as its top official, putting the 37-year-old minister on track to become the first Muslim to lead a democratic western European nation.
Yousaf emerged with a narrow victory in a bruising leadership race that followed the surprise resignation last month of Nicola Sturgeon, who had dominated Scottish politics for almost a decade as the country’s first minister and leader of the SNP.
In choosing Yousaf, members of his party opted for the candidate thought most likely to stick with Sturgeon’s progressive agenda, rejecting a more socially conservative contender, Kate Forbes.
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