Former Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf announced Tuesday that he intends on stepping down from frontline politics before the next election, marking the end of a controversial career defined in large part by identity politics and attacks on fundamental liberties.
Following the downfall of Nicola Sturgeon in 2023, Humza Yousaf was elevated to the top of the leftist-separatist Scottish National Party (SNP) and thus took over the reigns of power in Holyrood as first minister of Scotland, becoming the first Muslim leader of a Western nation.
Yet Yousaf’s rule only lasted a little over a year, having been ousted amid collapse in public support in May of this year.
With little prospect of returning to power, Yousaf announced that he would be stepping down ahead of the next Scottish election, saying Tuesday that after 15 years in politics, “the time will be right for me to move on.”
Characteristic of his time in office, which focussed heavily on leftist ethnic politics, the Pakistani-heritage politician returned to his identity in his resignation, stating: “There is no way this son of immigrants could have ever dreamt of being the leader of his country when he was a boy. People who looked like me and who were of my faith simply were not represented on the front benches in politics anywhere in the UK.
“It is often said that you cannot be what you cannot see. I hope by becoming the first First Minister of Colour, and first Muslim leader of a Western democratic nation, I have sent a clear message to every young person, of any background, who aspires to get involved in public service that you do belong and are just as deserving of opportunity as anyone else.”
The statement harkened back to one of his most controversial moments in office, in which Yousaf lamented in a Black Lives Matter-inspired speech before the Scottish parliament in 2020 that there were too many white people in positions of power in Scotland, a 93 per cent white nation.
“Take my portfolio, for example. The Lord President: white. The Lord Justice Clerk: white. Every High Court judge: white. The Lord Advocate: white. The Solicitor-General: white. The chief constable [of Police Scotland]: white. Every deputy chief constable: white. Every assistant chief constable: white. The head of the Law Society: white. The head of the Faculty of Advocates: white. Every prison governor: white,” Yousaf exclaimed, adding: “That is not good enough.”
Despite his apparent antipathy towards the native population, Yousaf later put himself up as candidate to lead the country following the fall of his former boss Nicola Sturgeon, after she was infamously stumped as to whether biologically male rapists should be allowed in female prisons if they claim to be transgender.
Though his time in office as first minister was short, having only lasted a little over a year, Yousaf’s reign in Edinburg will likely be felt for years to come, with his government having presided over the introduction of one of the strictest censorship laws in the Western world.
Under the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act, those found guilty of the vaguely worded “stirring up hatred” against a protected class, such as racial and sexual minorities, face up to seven years in prison. Such is the scope of the draconian legislation that even comments made in the privacy of one’s home could be deemed criminal.
In an ironic twist, following the passage of the law, members of the public logged complaints with the police against Yousaf over his 2020 rant against white people being in power in Scotland. So numerous were the reports that Police Scotland were said to have distributed a script to officers explaining why Yousaf’s comments supposedly did not breach the law.
It is currently unclear what the future will hold for Yousaf after he completes his term as a Member of Scottish Parliament in 2026. However, he suggested earlier this year that he may leave Scotland altogether over the rise “Islamophobia” in the United Kingdom.