Humza Yousaf is marking 100 days since being sworn in as Scotland’s sixth First Minister – but the start to his time in charge has been challenging.
Despite this, the SNP leader insisted recently he would not change being in the top job “for a second” and said there is “no greater honour than being the leader of your country”.
Speaking at the weekend, Mr Yousaf said: “There’s no getting away again from how challenging the last few months have been, I’m not going to pretend otherwise.
“But equally I get up out of bed in the morning knowing I am able to make a difference to people’s lives every single day.
“So I wouldn’t change it for a minute, for a second.”
It has been a tumultuous 100 days since he defeated party rivals Ash Regan and Kate Forbes in the contest to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister.
Here is a timeline of the key events of Mr Yousaf’s time in office so far:
– March 29: Mr Yousaf is sworn in as First Minister at the Court of Session in Edinburgh. Aged just 37 – though he is now 38 – he is the youngest person ever to hold the top job in Scottish politics, and also the first Muslim in the role.
He appoints his Cabinet on the same day, with top jobs going to many of his supporters, and Shona Robison, a key ally of his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon, becomes his Deputy First Minister.
– April 5: Just a week later, the SNP is rocked as former chief executive Peter Murrell – who is also Ms Sturgeon’s husband – is arrested by police probing the party’s finances.
Operation Branchform is focused on the whereabouts of more than £600,000 raised by the party for a possible second independence referendum. The home Mr Murrell and Ms Sturgeon share is searched by police, with officers also searching SNP headquarters in Edinburgh and seizing a luxury motorhome.
Mr Murrell is later released without charge, pending further investigations, and Mr Yousaf insists he does not think the police inquiry is the reason why his predecessor had quit.
– April 7: It becomes public knowledge that the SNP has no auditors – something Mr Yousaf had only been informed of shortly after being elected as First Minister.
– April 12: Mr Yousaf confirms the Scottish Government will go to court to challenge the UK Government’s blocking of controversial gender recognition reforms.
It comes after Scottish Secretary Alister Jack intervened, using powers under Section 35 of the Scotland Act to stop the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from gaining royal assent.
Mr Yousaf insists a legal challenge is his “only means” of defending Holyrood “from the Westminster veto”.
– April 15: Concerns around the party’s finances force Mr Yousaf to deny the SNP is close to bankruptcy.
He told journalists: “This is something I’ve read in some social media circles, but no, the party is solvent.”
– April 18: On the day Mr Yousaf makes a statement to Holyrood setting out his policy priorities as First Minister, police arrest fellow MSP and SNP treasurer Colin Beattie as part of Operation Branchform.
Like Mr Murrell before him, Mr Beattie is later released without charge and pending further investigation.
But his arrest overshadows Mr Yousaf’s first major policy statement, in which he vows to provide a “fresh start for Scotland”. He promises to “go back to the drawing board” on controversial plans to bring in further restrictions on alcohol advertising, as well as announcing a delay to plans to bring in a deposit return scheme for drinks cans and bottles.
– May 3: Several months after the SNP’s auditors quit, Mr Yousaf confirms AMS Accountants Group has been appointed to the role.
– June 7: The Scottish Government announces its planned deposit return scheme for drinks cans and bottles will not now go ahead until October 2025 at the earliest, to coincide with the UK Government’s scheme.
The UK Government had previously ruled that the Scottish scheme could not go ahead with glass bottles in it, with Mr Yousaf saying the initiative had been delayed as a “direct result of the UK Govt’s deliberate efforts to undermine devolution”.
– June 11: Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon becomes the third high-profile arrest as part of Operation Branchform. After being questioned by police, she is released without charge pending further investigation.
In the evening, Ms Sturgeon releases a statement in which she insists “beyond doubt” that she is “innocent of any wrongdoing”.
– June 12: Mr Yousaf insists he “sees no reason” to suspend Ms Sturgeon from the SNP following her arrest, despite facing calls to do so from both opponents and some within his party.
– June 24: Speaking at the SNP’s independence convention in Dundee, Mr Yousaf says winning a majority of Scottish seats in the general election is his preferred route to independence – insisting achieving this should be considered a mandate to demand a second referendum.
He declares: “If the SNP does win this election, the people will have spoken. We will seek negotiations with the UK Government on how we give democratic effect to Scotland becoming an independent nation.”
