Another South Asian has elevated himself to top of the power pole in Royal Britain after Ireland and Britain got their first ever Indian heads of state. Humza Yousaf, the grandson of a factory worker from Pakistan, is set to become the youngest first minister in Scotland’s history and the third major political figure in Britain who has South Asian heritage. Yousaf narrowly won the race to lead the Scottish National Party on Monday, taking 52 per cent of the vote among party members. The Scottish legislature is widely expected to elect him as first minister recently.

By DESIBUZZCanada Staff With News Files

EDINBURGH – Another South Asian has elevated himself to top of the power pole in Royal Britain after Ireland and Britain got their first ever Indian heads of state.

Humza Yousaf, the grandson of a factory worker from Pakistan, is set to become the youngest first minister in Scotland’s history and the third major political figure in Britain who has South Asian heritage.

Yousaf, 37, narrowly won the race to lead the Scottish National Party on Monday, taking 52 per cent of the vote among party members. The Scottish legislature is widely expected to elect him as first minister recently.

“I am forever thankful that my grandparents made the trip from the Punjab to Scotland over 60 years ago,” Yousaf told supporters in Edinburgh on Monday after the results were announced. “As immigrants to this country, who knew barely a word of English, they could not have imagined their grandson would one day be on the cusp of being the next first minister of Scotland.”

Yousaf is the first Muslim to lead a major political party in Britain. Last fall, Rishi Sunak, whose parents immigrated to Britain from East Africa and India, became the United Kingdom’s first Hindu Prime Minister. Sadiq Khan, the son of a bus driver from Pakistan, is the first Muslim to serve as Mayor of London.

“It is important to reflect on the election of what will be the first first minister from an ethnic minority background,” said Scottish Labour Party Leader Anas Sarwar, who is also Muslim. “Regardless of your politics, this is a significant moment for Scotland.”

Yousaf spoke about how his grandfather, Muhammad Yousaf, worked in the Singer Sewing machine factory in Glasgow while his grandmother, Ali Bhutta, stamped tickets on Glasgow buses. “We should all take pride in the fact that today we have sent a clear message, that your colour of skin, your faith, is not a barrier to leading the country we all call home,” he said.

He replaces Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader and first minister, and he inherits a party that is losing favour with Scottish voters.

The SNP has been in power for 16 years but the government is facing a host of challenges including lengthening hospital waiting times, falling standards in education and a backlash over legislation that will make it easier for people as young as 16 to change their gender through self-identification.

Historian Sir Tom Devine, professor emeritus at the University of Edinburgh, said the SNP should be wary of what happened to the Scottish Labour Party, which dominated Scotland’s politics for decades until its sudden collapse in 2011. Labour “started to take the public for granted,” Sir Tom said. “It was starting to ignore the new priorities of the voter. And that, of course, as always, is very dangerous for a political party.”

He added that the growing opposition to the gender recognition law was an example of how the SNP was losing touch with voters who are more concerned about the soaring cost of living.