At 2 pm today, March 27, the SNP announced that Humza Yousaf had won their leadership contest to replace Nicola Sturgeon.
Yousaf won 24,336 first-choice votes, and 26,032 votes overall, translating to 48.2 per cent of all first-choice votes.
SNP members voted under the Single Transferable Vote System whereby if one candidate of the three won 50 per cent of the first choice votes, they would win the contest immediately. This did not happen, so the candidate with the smallest number of votes (Ash Regan, at 5,599 votes), was eliminated.
This took Regan off the ballot and meant that the votes that had Regan as a first-choice were analysed as to who was a more popular second-choice for these voters, either Yousaf or Forbes. This was added to their totals of first-choice votes.
Forbes came in second, winning 20,559 first-choice votes, and 23,890 votes when the second choices of Ash Regan were counted.
Yousaf said he feels “like the luckiest man in the world,” and that the SNP is now united.
“No longer team Humza, or team Ash, or team Kate.”
The candidate was backed by SNP Westminster Leader Stephen Flynn, and his opponent Kate Forbes stated that whilst “uniformity is not unity,” and that she and Yousaf may disagree on specific issues, she is “confident we will unite behind Humza as our new party leader in the shared and common objective of independence.”
On Tuesday, March 28, Yousaf will face a vote in Parliament to become First Minister, with the catch being that any MSP from any party in Parliament can also stand for the role. If a First Minister is not chosen in 28 days, an election will be held.
Featured Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
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[…] marks a historic day in Scottish politics, as Humza Yousaf is elected the leader of the SNP with 48.2 per cent of the vote, ahead of other candidates Kate Forbes (40.7 […]