Humza Yousaf, who was elected as the first Muslim Prime Minister of Scotland, appoints a cabinet with majority of women for the first time in the country’s history. 6 of the 10 ministers in the cabinet are women.
Humza Yusuf, the newly elected leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) in Scotland became the country’s first Muslim prime minister.
This is the first time a Muslim politician has assumed such a senior position in the United Kingdom.
Nicola Sturgeon, the Prime Minister of Scotland and SNP leader, announced last month that she would leave the party leadership after more than eight years, and later Humza Yousaf has been elected as the leader by 52 per cent of the party members.
Women to lead 5 ministries
Humza Yousaf, whose family is a Pakistani immigrant, won a majority of votes in the parliamentary vote and became the new prime minister of the country.
While 6 of the 10 ministers in the new cabinet formed by Yousaf are women, 5 of them are under the age of 40. Yusuf formed a cabinet in which women are the majority for the first time in the history of the country.
Yousaf, who was sworn in as first minister on Wednesday, said: “The cabinet team I have unveiled reflects the priorities that we will pursue as a government – including tackling child poverty, improving public services and building a fairer, greener economy.
Michael Matheson is the new health secretary, Jenny Gilruth will take charge of education, and Angela Constance has been appointed justice and home affairs secretary. Mairi McAllan has become the second youngest member to be appointed to a Scottish cabinet as net zero and just transition secretary.
Neil Gray has been appointed secretary for wellbeing economy, fair work and energy, while Shirley-Anne Somerville has become secretary for social justice. Mairi Gougeon and Angus Robertson both remain in post as secretary for rural affairs, land reform and islands and secretary for constitution, external affairs and culture respectively.