SNP leadership candidate Humza Yousaf has vowed to drop his legal challenge of the blocking of gender reforms if Scotland’s top law official said the government would lose.

Mr Yousaf has recently emerged as the frontrunner to become the next First Minister of Scotland to replace Nicola Sturgeon, against rival candidates Kate Forbes and Ash Regan.

He has previously been steadfast in his support for fighting the UK Government in court over the Section 35 order issued in January to block the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill but made the U-turn this week.

He is hoping to be named as leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) on Monday, when the final votes are counted after vowing to “re-energise the independence campaign in the best interests of our nation”.

The SNP leadership hopeful is still campaigning in the lead-up to the final count. Ash Regan and Kate Forbes are the rival candidates.

Mr Yousaf disagreed with proposals put forward by Ms Regan which suggested voters be allowed to change votes if they have changed their minds.

Mr Yousaf is seen as a continuity candidate. In announcing his bid in February 20, Mr Yousaf talked up his long experience in government at his campaign launch in Clydebank, on the outskirts of Glasgow.

What is his background?

Mr Yousaf has served as justice secretary, transport minister, and international development minister. He became the first Muslim to be appointed to the Scottish government in 2012.

If successful in the leadership race, he would break fresh political ground by becoming Scotland’s first First Minister from an ethnic-minority background.

His father, who is from Pakistan, and his mother, from Kenya, moved to the UK in the 1960s.

At a press conference in February, he said his late grandfather came to Scotland from a small town in Pakistan in 1962 with barely a word of English.

“I don’t imagine in his wildest dreams that his grandson would one day be running to be First Minister of Scotland,” Mr Yousaf added.

He said it “speaks to us as a nation that anyone, regardless of race, can aim for the highest office in our country and not be judged by the colour of their skin”.

Scotland, he said, “should be proud that a grandson of an immigrant can seek to become the next first minister”.

Mr Yousaf was privately educated at Hutchesons’ Grammar School in Glasgow and he went on to study politics at the University of Glasgow, graduating with an MA in 2007. He undertook a lot of charity work in his youth. After being elected in 2011 as a Glasgow region MSP, he took his oath to the Queen in English and in Urdu.

He did the same when re-elected in 2016, wearing both a kilt and sherwani (a long-sleeved outer coat worn by men in South Asia) to reflect his Scottish and Pakistani heritage.

Scrutiny for Scotland’s NHS performance

But while he has pointed to a decade of top ministerial roles, his record running Scotland’s NHS has come under intense scrutiny, with Mr Yousaf facing criticism for long waiting times and for urging the public to “think twice” before calling 999 in September 2021.

Mr Yousaf’s political career began when he became an office manager for the SNP's Bashir Ahmad, the first MSP from an Asian and Muslim background.

Following Mr Ahmad's death in 2009, Mr Yousaf went on to work for other MSPs, including Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.

On the SNP’s fight for independence, Mr Yousaf said he believed in it “with every fibre” of his being.

But he added that, despite being a close ally of Ms Sturgeon, he had some “concerns” about the outgoing First Minister’s plan to use the upcoming general election, likely to be called next year, as a de facto second referendum to break away from the rest of the UK.

He said: “I’m not as wedded to it as the First Minister.”

Asked when a second referendum might be held, he added: “I’m not going to put a timetable on it. I want independence tomorrow if we can have it, and that goes almost without saying.”