HUMZA Yousaf has won the SNP leadership contest to take over from Nicola Sturgeon.

The Glasgow Pollok MSP, who is the current health secretary, beat Kate Forbes in second place and Ash Regan in third to the job.

Yousaf won 52.1% of the vote with Forbes taking 47.9%.

In round one Yousaf took 24,336 votes (48.2%), Forbes got 20,559 (40.7%) and Regan had 5599 (11.1%).

After Regan's votes were redistributed, Yousaf won 26,032 taking him to 52.1%, enough to win the contest, ahead of Forbes who got 23,890, taking her to 47.9%.

Glasgow Times:

The 37-year-old will now go on to be the SNP’s nomination in a vote at Holyrood tomorrow, where he is almost certain to become Scotland’s sixth First Minister since devolution in 1999.

He had the backing of most SNP parliamentarians and was seen as the ‘continuity candidate’, regularly stating he wanted to build on the achievements of Sturgeon’s era.

Yousaf will be the third Glasgow MSP to hold the post after Donald Dewar from 1999 to 2000 and Sturgeon from 2014 to 2023.

He takes over after winning the contest where the candidates, particularly Yousaf and Forbes, attacked each other and also questioned the record of the Government in which they served.

Forbes had said continuity won’t cut it and said Yousaf failed in his posts at transport, justice and health.

Yousaf in turn attacked Forbes for her comments on equal marriage and gender recognition reform and said he would continue with a progressive agenda.

There were around 72,000 SNP members able to vote in the election after the party lost around 30,000 members in the last two years.

The result was announced by Lorna Finn, SNP national secretary, at a party event at Murrayfield, Edinburgh.

This week Yousaf’s first task will be to form a cabinet as a major revamp of the top jobs is needed. He will need a new Deputy First Minister as John Swinney also steps down, and a new health secretary.

Yousaf has said there would be a place for Forbes in a government he leads but it remains to be seen if she will stay at finance.