Scottish nationalists have chosen Hamza Yousaf to become the new First Minister today, Monday, after a heated competition that revealed deep divisions in his party over policy and stalled independence efforts. Yousaf, who will be the first Muslim to lead a country in Western Europe, said he will focus on addressing the cost-of-living crisis, healing divisions within the party, and pursuing independence once again. Yousaf's victory was confirmed at the national rugby stadium after a six-week campaign during which the three candidates mostly criticized each other's records in a series of personal attacks.
The 37-year-old Muslim succeeds Nicola Sturgeon, the leader of the ruling Scottish National Party, and will take over the government, which has quasi-independent powers, once approved by a vote in the Scottish Parliament. Scotland voted to reject independence from Britain by a majority of 55 percent in 2014. This was followed by Britain's vote to leave the European Union two years later, when the majority of Scots showed a desire to remain in the bloc, alongside Scotland's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, which gained more support for independence.
However, a poll this month showed that support for independence has dropped to 39 percent, or 46 percent when excluding those who answered "don't know." This is compared to 58 percent in 2020. In response to a question about whether the British government would allow Yousaf to hold a referendum on independence, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that the government's position has not changed and that people's priorities are health care and the economy, not a new vote on secession.
