Yousaf 80%
Forbes 46%
Reagan 4%
Doesn’t make sense.
Earlier numbers you posted:
Yousaf 81%
Forbes 25%
Reagan 3%
Which makes rather more sense.
Results coming now
70% turn out.
1st pref
Ash 5499
Forbes: 20559 (40.7%)
Yousaf: 23 436 (48.2%)
Second pref:
Forbes: 23890 (47.9%)
Yousaf 26032 (52.1%)
Yousaf is elected.
Most entertaining will be if these are the poll numbers released from the vote count 
.
Wow - that is a LOT closer than the implied odds!
So it turns out the Forbes strategy of pushing for Ash’s second preferences was the right one - just not executed well enough, it seems.
Fatuous comment: in a reversal of the last Conservative leadership election, the misogynists triumph over the racists this time!
Yousaf speaking now:
Thanks National Secretary and HQ staff for their efforts running contest.
Hard to find words to describe how honoured he is to be trusted by membership as leader and next First Minister.
Pays tributes to Kate and Ash - seen each other more than their respective families over the last 6 weeks. Knows they will continue to work hard for SNP.
Feels not just humble but very lucky. Quotes past Labour leader John Smith “Opportunity to serve country is all we ask”.
Will lead SNP iin interests of all party members and Scotland in interest of all Scots.
(He’s making nods to the fact he has to be voted in to First Minister by parliamenet, but this is a formality.)
Immediate priority to protect every Scot from cost of living society, help NHS recover (!) and improve “wellbeing economy”. Empower local authorities, support justice system. Journey to net zero will deliver prosperity.
Will work with UK government constructively although there may be some arguments to come - not explicitly saying he’ll fight the GRR veto.
At our best when radical and bold. Challenges demand nothing less.
Back to SNP: we are one team. We are the generation that will deliver independence. At strongest when united. Shared goal of Indy unites us. For those who don’t share that passion, I will win you over by governing effectively with devolved powers. We will only win by making that case at the doorsteps - I will kickstart a grassroots civic-led movement.
And now thanks to campaign staff and family.
Heh…
Yeah, ran him close. Makes the call for unity interesting because he’s not in a position to demand unity around his point of view alone.
Indeed!
Forbes got 53% of the Ash vote. To win she’d have needed to get 90% of it. That seems impossible unless there’s a huge Anyone by Yousaf vote.
More like 77% by my calculations, but yes fair point - still a very tall order.
52/48 is of course the cursed ratio.
48 for Forbes - whose economic and social values are very different from Sturgeon’s or Yousaf’s - is a big challenge to the current hegemony. And a lot of people who were thinking of standing down or leaving the party if Forbes won will not be feeling entirely comfortable.
Forbes will be staying in the Cabinet in some form - Finance is probably as safe a place as any.
Which means a lot of questions about mediocrity for both of them.
You’re right, I forgot that every vote she gets is a lost one for him.
Don’t trust my audio’ transcription skills. From the Guardian.
First preferences:
Yousaf: 24,336 (48%),
Kate Forbes: 20,559 (40%)
Ash Regan 5,599 (11%)
Second preferences
Yousaf: 26,032 (52%)
Forbes: 23,890 (48%).
So Yousaf picked up 30% of Regan’s votes (1,696), and Forbes 59% (3,331) - leaving 11% not offering a preference.
Should not be overlooked that Yousaf is the first Muslim government leader in the UK, and will be Scotland’s first ethnic minority First Minister.
The interview with Scottish Labour’s leader Anas Sarwar (also Muslim and of Asian descent) was fun: congratulates him on everything he’s achieved, recognises the significance but also thinks he’s a bad leader who’s bad for Scotland. Which is completely fair enough but he didn’t hesitate to go from A to B.
From the Guardian transcript of Q&A:
Q: What will you do on the gender recognition reform bill?Yousaf says he does not think Westminster had the right to block it using a section 35 order. His first principle will be to challenge that, he says.
So he will be taking it to court. This will do a lot to reassure the progressive wing of his party, will simultaneously annoy the regressive wing (52/48 let’s not forget) and will also give a focus for independence rhetoric “It’s not for Westminster to overrule the wishes of the Scottish people”. Every SNP leader needs an anti-Westminster grievance and this will be his for now.
IIRC …
When Tony Blair resigned as UK PM and Gordon Brown was elected as Tory leader & hence replacement PM there was lots of talk that although the process was 100% above-board, Brown lacked any mandate of the populace at large and therefore was hobbled as PM until a) a full Parliamentary election was run with him as Tory leader, and b) the Tories won said election.
The transition from Sturgeon to Yousef is architecturally the same. To what degree do we expect to hear similar complaints that until Yousef goes to the whole of Scotland as SNP leader for a fresh election, he’ll lack legitimacy? Or was that always just pro forma carping by the usual elite suspects?
Not only that, when May replaced Cameron, and when Truss replaced Johnson, and when Sunak replaced Truss, we heard a lot of the same talk not just from Labour but also from teh SNP!
Sanwar (Scottish Labour leader) has already fired that shot - I’m sure the Tories won’t be far behind. It is largely just pro forma carping but it has more relevance when the new leader is radically different in their approach than the old one (e.g. Truss with her radical economic theories really didn’t have a public mandate).
In this instance, Yousaf isn’t offering too much change (except insofar as he’s promising to actually deliver policy successfully HEY I DID A SATIRE) so it holds less water than if Forbes had been elected.
I’m just a dumb American, but I though Blair and Brown were Labour?
OK, so on the one hand this was Yousaf’s answer to one journalist in the post-speech Q&A an hour ago:
Yousaf says political obstacles at Westminster will disappear when there is ‘consistent, majority support for independence’
Q: What is your timeline for independence? And how will you reassure people that Scotland can afford independence?
Yousaf says the key to independence is having “consistent, majority support for independence”. He says when that is the case, the political obstacles to independence in Westminster will disappear.
which is sensible - independence isn’t gonig anywhere until there’s steady 60%+ support. But then apparently this:
which is a) mad and b) totally contradictory!
I suppose that’s one way to deal with a split party.