Humza Yousaf ‘less popular than Nicola Sturgeon after a year’

Poll finds former FM still viewed more favourably than her successor as he is accused of having ‘no vision, no strategy and no plan’

Humza Yousaf remains less popular than his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon despite her arrest by police investigating the SNP’s finances, according to a poll conducted a year after he replaced her.
Ipsos Scotland said the First Minister is viewed favourably by 29 per cent of Scots and unfavourably by 45 per cent, giving him a net rating of minus 15 when the totals are rounded.
This was an improvement on the rating of minus-20 he had when he was running to be SNP leader after Ms Sturgeon suddenly resigned in February last year. He was sworn in as First Minister a year ago on Friday.
But he remained more unpopular than Ms Sturgeon, despite her rating tumbling from plus-eight when she left office to minus-12. Around a third of Scots (35 per cent) view her positively and 47 per cent negatively.
Over the past year, her home has been searched by police investigating the SNP’s finances and a luxury motorhome seized from outside her mother-in-law’s home.
The former first minister has been arrested, along with her husband, Peter Murrell, the SNP’s former chief executive. Both were released without charge pending further investigation and she has vigorously denied any wrongdoing.
In addition, Ms Sturgeon has faced fierce criticism for destroying all WhatsApp messages from the pandemic, despite pledging in August 2021 that they would be handed over to the UK and Scottish Covid public inquiries.
The poll also showed that the SNP’s new favourability rating has tumbled from minus-one when Ms Sturgeon stood down to minus-10. It said 34 per cent of Scots had a positive view of the former first minister, while 44 per cent had a negative opinion.
It was published as Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, accused Mr Yousaf of having provided “no vision, no strategy and no plan” during his first year in charge.
Mr Sarwar told First Minister’s Questions that Mr Yousaf was “failing on the basics of government”, citing lengthy NHS waiting lists, falling education standards and low economic growth.
Emily Gray, managing director at Ipsos Scotland, said: “These findings show the Scottish public are less favourable towards the SNP now than they were when Humza Yousaf took office, with Mr Yousaf facing a challenge to convince the public his government is delivering on key policy areas such as the NHS, education and the economy.
“However the other parties also face challenges – the Conservatives and Rishi Sunak are much more unpopular, whilst views towards Labour are less negative but the results suggest they haven’t as yet generated much enthusiasm among the public.”
The survey of 1,040 people, conducted between Mar 15 and 26, found more than half (56 per cent) said Mr Yousaf’s government had performed poorly at improving the NHS.
Around half (49 per cent), said they had failed to improve living standards for those on low incomes. Similar proportions had a negative view of their performance on education (48 per cent) and managing the economy (47 per cent).
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Mr Sarwar had a minus-seven popularity rating, with 26 per cent of people viewing him favourably and 33 per cent negatively.
Douglas Ross, his Tory counterpart, had a minus-42 rating, with 14 per cent of people viewing him favourably and 56 per cent unfavourably.
Mr Sarwar told Holyrood that during his year as first minister, Mr Yousaf had endured “three defections, nine SNP MPs abandoning ship and his own deputy leader saying SNP MPs might not turn up to work.”
“He’s been called ‘authoritarian’ by one of his longest-serving MSPs; accused of lacking vision by Kate Forbes; called ‘a commentator, not a leader’ by Alex Neil,” the Scottish Labour leader said.
“And his general election strategy has been trashed by Pete Wishart, his party’s longest-serving MP. In one short year, Humza Yousaf has lost every electoral test he has been set.”
But Mr Yousaf accused Mr Sarwar of “arrogance and hubris” and noted that Scots had chosen the SNP over Labour in recent years “time and time again”.