HUMZA Yousaf’s time as SNP leader will be brought to an end by his support for gender reform, JK Rowling has suggested.
The Harry Potter author used Twitter to criticise the incoming SNP leader after his election at the head of the party was announced on Monday afternoon.
Yousaf took 52% of the vote in the second round, narrowly beating Kate Forbes who won 48%.
The Health Secretary, who is expected to easily be confirmed as first minister in a Holyrood vote on Tuesday, has pledged to take the UK Government to court over its use of Section 35 of the Scotland Act to block gender reform north of the Border.
However, Rowling suggested that she believed this would go badly for him.
Responding to a Twitter post about Yousaf’s intention to challenge the Section 35 order, she wrote: “@HumzaYousaf is the kid who just saw the skater in front of him disappear through the ice, but yells 'watch me, everybody!' while wobbling straight for the hole.”
.@HumzaYousaf is the kid who just saw the skater in front of him disappear through the ice, but yells 'watch me, everybody!' while wobbling straight for the hole. https://t.co/HDwS7ULwoZ
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) March 27, 2023
Rowling’s implication was that Nicola Sturgeon had also been brought down by the row over the Gender Recognition Reform Bill.
Sturgeon has previously refuted the suggestion that the row around gender reform had been the “final straw” that led to her resignation.
She said during her resignation press conference: "No, that issue wasn't the final straw ... It is not the case that this decision is because of short-term issues. I've faced more short-term issues from time to time in my years in politics than I care to remember.
"And if it was just that, I wouldn't be standing here today."
