Humza Yousaf looks like Nicola Sturgeon 2.0

Humza Yousaf, the frontrunner to succeed Nicola Sturgeon, formally entered the race this morning. The venue was humble: Clydebank Town Hall. The town once took pride of place in the British shipbuilding industry, but was hit hard by the closure of the yards. Although it has benefited from regeneration in recent decades, deprivation remains a stubborn feature of life there. Clydebank was also home to the Singer sewing machine factory, where Yousaf’s grandfather worked when he brought his family to the UK from Pakistan in the 1960s. 

The venue may have been humble but the staging was slick. Standing before a row of signs reading ‘Humza for Scotland’ and ‘I’m with Humza’ – quite the turnaround from the printers given Sturgeon only announced her resignation less than a week ago – the current Scottish health secretary made a US presidential-style pitch. He spoke about the importance of family; his wife and young daughter were in the front row.