Succeeding Sturgeon after her eight years in office, he had insisted that his experience hailing from an ethnic minority meant he would fight to protect all minorities’ rights – including those of gay and transgender people.
However, liberal SNP policies on transgender rights caused him a political headache throughout, including among more conservative elements of the SNP.
Meanwhile, crises in healthcare and education, marring the SNP’s record after nearly two decades in power, have also weighed on its popularity.
Yousaf forged his political career after growing up in Scotland’s biggest city, Glasgow.
His father had enjoyed a successful career there as an accountant. His mother was born into a South Asian family in Kenya.
He attended an exclusive private school in the city, two years behind Scottish Labor leader Anas Sarwar.
From there, he went on to study politics at Glasgow University and worked in a call center before becoming an aide to Alex Salmond, Sturgeon’s predecessor as leader and first minister.
Yousaf entered the Scottish cabinet in 2012, serving in various ministerial roles including justice, transport and health.
He married former SNP worker Gail Lythgoe in 2010 but they divorced seven years later. He remarried in 2019, and has a daughter and a step-daughter.
Yousaf’s international profile has risen in recent months due to his vehement criticism of Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza, where his second wife Nadia El-Nakla’s parents were trapped for weeks. He described the period as being the most difficult of his life.
