Humza Yousaf is to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader and Scotland’s first minister after a vote of party members.

Mr. Yousaf defeated rivals Kate Forbes and Ash Regan in the leadership contest. The 37-year-old is the first Muslim to lead a major UK party.

He is set to be confirmed as the first ethnic minority leader of a devolved government on Tuesday.

Mr. Yousaf is currently Scotland’s health secretary and was widely assumed to be Ms. Sturgeon’s preferred successor, although she did not explicitly back any of the candidates in the contest.

The leadership election was decided by the Single Transferable Vote system, with 50,490 of the SNP’s 72,169 members casting a ballot – the vast majority of them online.

Mr. Yousaf failed to win a majority in the first round of voting, but won 52.1% of the votes after second preference votes from Ms. Regan, who was eliminated after finishing third, was redistributed.

Ms. Forbes came second with 47.9% of the votes when second preferences were included, with Mr. Yousaf receiving 26,032 votes and Ms. Forbes 23,890.

The new SNP leader will face a vote in the Scottish Parliament – which he is certain to win – on Tuesday before becoming Scotland’s sixth first minister.

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