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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
National
Harris Clark

Watch as SNP member who quit party explains why they rejoined today

AN SNP supporter who cancelled their membership only weeks ago has re-joined the party, just hours after Humza Yousaf’s victory.

Caller Rob – who phoned into radio show LBC – said he was “absolutely overjoyed” at the prospect of Yousaf being the next first minister.

Yousaf positioned himself as the progressive candidate – with that appeal seemingly reflected in the largest voting block being those who chose Yousaf without a second preference.

The newly reinstated SNP member – who phoned into Shelagh Fogarty’s LBC show – argued that Yousaf was the “only left-of-centre candidate” and that if Forbes won it would push SNP voters into the arms of Scottish Labour.

He went on to say that he and his wife left the party four weeks ago because they believed the “right-wing pollsters” that Kate Forbes was going to win.

The independence supporter cited Forbes’s socially conservative views as the reason for leaving the party and believed that Yousaf’s election as SNP leader was a “great day for Scotland”.

Humza Yousaf has also said he would be “First Activist” not just first minister, in terms of campaigning for independence.

This obviously went down well with some indy supporters, with caller Rob saying that Yousaf’s successful leadership campaign has “continued the momentum of the breakup of the Union".

After the second round of voting, Yousaf won 52.1% of the vote, with Kate Forbes picking up 47.9%.

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