Humza Yousaf 'a commentator not a leader' warns ex-MSP as First Minister marks one year in top job
dailyrecord.co.ukHumza Yousaf must be "bold" if he is to be viewed by the public as a leader and not just a commentator on politics, an SNP veteran has said.Alex Neil, a former Scottish Government minister, spoke out on the first anniversary of the conclusion of the SNP leadership race.That result saw Yousaf narrowly defeat Kate Forbes to become the Nationalists' new leader and in turn succeed Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister.But it has been a rocky 12 months in the top job for the Glasgow MSP as he faced a growing list of problems in both his party and in government.Neil told the Record: "It's not been the greatest year in the history of the SNP.
But, to be fair, a lot of that was what Humza inherited from Nicola."The former health secretary, who retired from Holyrood in 2021, called for Yousaf to announce "radical reform" on education and the health service."He needs to be bold, he needs to be audacious.
He gives the impression he's a commentator on Scottish politics and not a leader," Neil said."He now needs to lead and seize the agenda from what is a very poor opposition."Yousaf won the first open SNP leadership contest in two decades on March 27 last year but his party has been rocked by an on-going police investigation into how donations were spent.The First Minister also faces a resurgent Scottish Labour ahead of a make-or-break general election later this year.With polls predicting the Nationalists stand to lose multiple MPs, Yousaf has sought to fire up his support by claiming only the SNP can make Scotland "Tory free".The FM has also insisted his party would have a mandate to begin independence negotiations if it won a majority seats in Scotland at the UK-wide poll.Asked what he thought of the SNP's general election strategy,
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