Neil Gray

Humza Yousaf is to be formally elected as Scotland's sixth First Minister in vote in The Scottish Parliament .

The new SNP leader is virtually certain to become The First ethnic minority leader of a devolved government by winning a majority of The votes.

The leaders of The three opposition parties - The Conservatives, Labour and Lib Dems - are expected to stand against him.

But none has any prospect of winning The Contest .

The Scottish Greens - who have a power-sharing agreement with The SNP - have already said they will back Mr Yousaf, which should ensure he wins a majority in The First round of voting when The Process begins at about 14:20.

All of The candidates will make a brief speech before The vote, with Mr Yousaf expected to be formally Sworn In as First Minister in a brief ceremony at The Court of Session in Edinburgh on Wednesday.

He will start forming his new cabinet team later This Week , and will face opposition leaders for The First Time at The Weekly First Minister 's Questions on Thursday.

Mr Yousaf won The SNP leadership on Monday after narrowly defeating Kate Forbes by 26,032 votes to 23,890 once The Second preference votes of Ash Regan - who finished a distant Third - were reallocated.

Mr Yousaf had been serving as health secretary and was seen as being Ms Sturgeon's preferred successor - with some pundits surprised at how close The Final result was.

Despite The turmoil of The Campaign , which saw Ms Forbes launch a highly personal attack on Mr Yousaf's competence in a live TV debate, both of The defeated candidates congratulated The new leader on his success and urged The Party to unite behind him.

Ms Sturgeon paid tribute to all three candidates for " rising to The challenge" during The Leadership contest, adding: " Most of all I congratulate Humza Yousaf and wish him every success.

" He will be an outstanding leader and First Minister and I could not be prouder to have him succeed me. "

Neil Gray , The culture minister who managed Mr Yousaf's leadership campaign, has said that The new First Minister would have have conversations with both Ms Forbes and Ms Regan about bringing them into government.

Speaking to The Bbc 's, Mr Gray also rejected calls by Scottish Labour for an election to be held.

He told The programme: " Humza has a very clear mandate, I think that will be earned by his election today and he absolutely has The Power to govern going forward".

The SNP repeatedly called for a general election during Last Year 's Conservative leadership campaign, arguing that whoever took over from Boris Johnson would have no mandate because they had been picked by Tory party members rather than The country as a whole.

But Mr Gray said: " The democratically elected MSPs who choose The First Minister through a ballot in The Scottish Parliament have that opportunity to do so today.

" This is a different situation than what we faced when Gordon Brown took over from Tony Blair , for instance, where there wasn't an election or, indeed, The various Conservative leaders who have been elected by The Party over The Last few years. "

Mr Yousaf described himself as The " luckiest man in The world" after being confirmed as The new SNP leader and pledged to be a " First Minister for all of Scotland. "

He told voters he would " work every minute of Every Day to earn and re-earn your respect and your trust" and said he would " kickstart" a grassroots campaign that would " ensure our drive for independence is in fifth gear".

He added: " The People of Scotland need independence now More Than ever before, and we will be The generation that delivers independence for Scotland. "

Speaking to Itv News after his victory, Mr Yousaf said he would ask The UK government to grant formal consent to hold another referendum " right away".

Downing Street has already said it will not change its stance in opposing a referendum, with The Prime Minister 's spokesman saying he would instead be focused on The " issues that matter" to people like reducing inflation and tackling The cost of living crisis.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said it was " obvious that Humza Yousaf has The wrong priorities for Scotland" as he confirmed he would stand against him in The First Minister vote.

Mr Ross added: " During The Leadership election he focused on independence above Everything Else and therefore I think it's right that The People of Scotland hear voices within parliament".

Labour's health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie claimed that Mr Yousaf had a " woeful record" in government.

She added: " As transport minister The trains never ran On Time , as justice secretary he trashed The justice system, he has been The worst health secretary in The history of devolution and I Am worried he has simply failed upwards, is out of his depth and is incompetent and I worry for The country. "

After being voted leader of The Scottish National Party , we ask - who is Humza Yousaf ?

(UK only).

Source of news: bbc.com