Humza Yousaf 'less popular than Nicola Sturgeon' one year later

Yousaf was accused of “failure in the basics of public administration”; Labor Opposition Photo: JANE BARLOW/PA

Humza Yousaf remains less popular than his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon despite her arrest by police investigating the Scottish National Party's finances, according to a poll conducted a year after he replaced her.

< p>Ipsos Scotland said the First Minister was viewed favorably by 29 per cent of Scots and unfavorably by 45 per cent, giving him a net rating of minus 15 when totals are rounded up.

This is an improvement over last year. He had a minus-20 rating when he ran for leadership of the Scottish National Party after Ms Sturgeon abruptly resigned in February last year. A year ago on Friday, he was sworn in as First Minister.

But he remained more unpopular than Ms Sturgeon, despite her rating falling from plus eight when she left office to minus 12. About a third of Scots (35 per cent) view her favorably, while 47 per cent do not. negative.

Over the past year, her home has been searched by police investigating the finances of the Scottish National Party, as well as a luxury caravan seized from her. her mother-in-law's house.

The former first minister was arrested along with her husband Peter Murrell, the former leader of the Scottish National Party. Both were released without charge pending further investigation and she strenuously denies any wrongdoing.

Ms Sturgeon has also come under fire for destroying all WhatsApp messages due to the pandemic, despite promising in August 2021 to hand them over to public inquiries into Covid in the UK and Scotland.

“Failure to respect basic governance.”

The poll also showed the Scottish National Party's new approval rating fell from minus one, when Ms Sturgeon dropped to minus 10. It said 34 per cent of Scots had a positive view of the former first minister, while 44 per cent had an unfavorable view.

It was published after Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labor leader, accused Mr Yusuf of failing to deliver “no vision, no strategy, no plan” during his first year in office.

Emily Gray, managing director of Ipsos Scotland, said: “These results show that the Scottish public is less favorable to the Scottish National Party now than when Humza Yousaf took office, and Mr Yousaf faces the challenge of convincing the public that his government is fulfilling key tasks. policy areas such as the National Health Service, education and the economy.

“However, other parties also face challenges: the Conservatives and Rishi Sunak are much more unpopular, while views of Labor are less negative, but the results show they have not yet generated much public enthusiasm.”

Poll The survey of 1,040 people from March 15 to 26 found that more than half (56 percent) said Yousaf's government had done a poor job of improving the NHS.

About half (49 percent) said they had failed to improve the living standards of low-income people. Similar proportions rate their performance negatively in education (48 percent) and economic management (47 percent).

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Mr Sarwar's popularity rating was minus seven, with 26 percent of people viewing him positively and 33 percent viewing him unfavorably.

Douglas Ross, a fellow Conservative, had a minus-42 rating with 14 percent. people view him favorably, while 56 per cent have an unfavorable view.

Mr Sarwar told Holyrood that in his year as First Minister, Mr Yousaf had suffered «three defections, nine SNP MPs have left ship, and his own deputy leader said SNP MPs might not show up for work.”

“One of the longest-serving MPs called him an 'authoritarian'; Kate Forbes accused him of lacking vision; Alex Neil called him a “commentator, not a leader,” the Scottish Labor leader said.

And his general election strategy was trashed by Pete Wishart, his party's longest-serving MP. In one short year, Humza Yousaf has lost every election challenge put to him.”

But Mr Yousaf accused Mr Sarwar of “arrogance and arrogance” and noted that Scots had chosen the SNP over the Labor Party in recent years. “again and again.”