Daily Times

Scotland’s parliament on Tuesday confirmed Humza Yousaf will replace Nicola Sturgeon as first minister, the devolved nation’s youngest and the first Muslim leader of a government in western Europe. Yousaf, 37, narrowly won a Scottish National Party (SNP) leadership battle on Monday to clinch the party’s top job, vowing to rejuvenate the stalled pursuit of independence for Scotland. He then secured the nominations of a majority of lawmakers in the early afternoon vote Tuesday to become the new first minister, and will be formally sworn in at a ceremony on Wednesday. Ahead of the confirmatory vote, Yousaf acknowledged he had “some very big shoes to fill” succeeding Sturgeon, but vowed to “continue to ensure that Scotland is a positive, progressive voice on the world stage”. “I will stand up unequivocally for this parliament and against any attempts to undermine devolution,” he said, referring to the UK government reforms that handed Scotland a host of powers over domestic policy in 1999. “I will work every hour of every day to harness the potential of Scotland and every single person,” the new SNP leader added.