Humza Yousaf elected leader of Scottish National Party

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - Scotland's health secretary has been elected as the chair of the Scottish National Party (SNP) following 14 days of voting by the party members.

Humza Yousaf became the first Muslim to lead a major UK party and is set to be confirmed as the first ethnic minority leader of a devolved government in the UK.

Yousaf was in the race with Scottish Finance Secretary Kate Forbes, and former Community Safety Minister Ash Regan to replace Nicola Sturgeon as the leader of the SNP and first minister of Scotland.

Yousaf received 48.2% of votes, Forbes trailed at 40.7% and Ash Regan 11.1% in the first round of election, according to the SNP.

In the second round, he won the election with 52.1% while Forbes received 47.9% of votes.

"Congratulations to @HumzaYousaf elected as the new leader of the SNP and Scotland's next First Minister. Together, let's get on with building a better Scotland," the SNP said on Twitter.

He is set to succeed Sturgeon who resigned last month from the country’s top political post, as well as from the helm of the SNP.

The 37-year-old Scottish politician Yousaf, who joined the SNP in 2005, was also the first South Asian and first Muslim cabinet secretary to serve in the Scottish Government.

In May 2011, Yousaf was elected to the Scottish Parliament as an additional member for the Glasgow region at the age of 26 years, becoming the youngest MSP to be elected to the Scottish Parliament.​​​​​​​