Ten yardsticks to judge Humza Yousaf by as first minister

Humza Yousaf is the new leader of the SNP and in the coming days will be sworn in at the Court of Session in Edinburgh as the county’s sixth first minister. He inherits a bickering party and almost a decade of electoral stalemate over independence.

It is far from clear what legacy his predecessor leaves in her wake. She took the SNP Alex Salmond built and cemented it as Scotland’s natural party of government, winning election after election with seemingly little effort. But many would argue she has left the country in no better shape than the day she took over in November 2014.

For Yousaf to be a success he surely must look beyond maintaining that nationalist electoral dominance and drag the country forward. The Spectator’s data hub will track various metrics throughout his first ministership. This is what we think he should be judged on:

1. Starting with the obvious… support for independence

Speaking to Scottish government officials in the last few weeks it’s clear many think the dream of an independent Scotland now really is over for a generation – and a decades-long generation at that.