HUMZA Yousaf now faces the task of forming the new Scottish Government and picking who will serve in his cabinet.
The Health Secretary is expected to be voted in as first minister later today – leaving at least one government vacancy he needs to fill.
He made a pledge to unite the party in his victory speech – offering an olive branch to rivals Kate Forbes and Ash Regan.
But whether he will work with them, or they with him, remains a question.
Forbes has previously said she would happily serve in a Yousaf government and she earlier sounded a note of caution to her former rival warning him "uniformity is not unity".
While he might wish to keep her out of government, this could open the possibility of her being a prominent and influential government critic on the backbenches and a source told us it would be “very silly” not to get Regan and Forbes onside.
If her criticisms of Yousaf’s record during the STV debate were anything to go by, this could be something the Health Secretary would like to avoid.
A Regan campaign source told The National he had met with their candidate but offered “warm words but no substance” – suggesting the third-place candidate could remain on the backbenches.
Regan tweeted after the announcement that she wished Yousaf well and would "back him" as he led the SNP.
Yousaf has been working closely with Neil Gray – seen by some in the SNP as future first minister material – on his campaign, calling him “the best corner man I could have asked for”.
Gray currently serves as a junior minister in the culture and external affairs department and takes on special responsibility for Ukrainian refugees. His boss in that department is Angus Robertson, who has also backed Yousaf, potentially hanging a question mark over that job.
Shona Robison, the Social Justice Secretary, met Yousaf on his last media stint of the election campaign and she was also given a shout out in his victory speech.
She has been in government for 13 years in total and spent three years on the backbenches after standing down as health secretary after cancer waiting times hit a six-year high in 2018.
An SNP source confirmed Ian Blackford, who led the SNP in Westminster until early this year, would remain on in his current role of business ambassador for the party with a remit to help the Yes cause build links with the business world.
They added a Yousaf government would be “self-explanatory” – suggesting his other backers, including Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville, Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon and Energy Secretary Michael Matheson could be expected to keep their jobs.
He was also backed by rising star Màiri McAllan, who might expect a promotion from her junior ministerial role.
