When Kate Forbes and Humza Yousaf entered the room at Murrayfield for the announcement of the SNP leadership election, Kate was smiling and looking like she had not a care in the world. Humza’s face was in his boots and he looked like he had the weight o the world on his shoulders.

I thought that Kate had won, but when the result came through, and Humza was proclaimed leader, you can maybe understand why he looked so miserable.

His margin of victory was that cursed ration of 52.1% to 47.9% over Kate Forbes, and we all know from Brexit how difficult it is to manage a situation where almost half of people are against you. On first preferences, he had 48% of the vote to Kate Forbes 40% and Ash Regan’s 11.1%, but Regan’s transfers broke overwhelmingly for Forbes.

There will be some relief in Scotland’s LGBT community that Yousaf, out of the three, has won. During the campaign, Kate Forbes expressed her opposition to same sex marriage and both she and Regan made clear their opposition to  the Gender Recognition Reform Bill.

The leadership campaign was at times absolutely vicious. Kate Forbes demolition of his record in office may well come back to haunt the soon to be First Minister. In the first major debate, she basically told him he was being moved from his Health portfolio if she won, and said:

“You were a transport minister and the trains were never on time, when you were justice secretary the police were stretched to breaking point, and now as health minister we’ve got record high waiting times – what makes you think you can do a better job as first minister?”

The thing I found most weird, having spent my Summer three years ago, along with many others, phone canvassing in our leadership election, that the SNP didn’t allow their candidates to have membership data in order to canvass. Maybe that explains the low turnout of 70% in such a fiercely fought election for, effectively, the leader of the country.

Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton congratulated Humza but did not hold back about the challenge ahead of him:

I would like to congratulate Humza Yousaf on becoming the first minority ethnic leader of his party.

“Scotland is crying out for a First Minister who will put the people’s priorities first and be a leader for the whole country.

“There are huge challenges facing our country but sadly Humza Yousaf has not proven equal to those challenges in his previous roles. That’s not just my verdict but that of his colleague Kate Forbes.

“On his watch, 1 in 7 Scots are on a waiting list and his NHS recovery plan has completely failed to tackle crises in A&E, cancer care, mental health and dentistry.

“Reasonable, fair-minded people are turning away from the SNP and looking for someone who will fight their corner. This country is ready for change and Scottish Liberal Democrats will be part of what’s next.”

It is a really proud and significant moment that of the three current heads of Government across the UK, two are from a minority ethnic background.

Tomorrow, Yousaf will stand for election as First Minister in the Scottish Parliament and all the opposition leaders will stand against him. He will win. The backing of the Greens and their continuing partnership in Government is more likely than it would have been if Kate Forbes had won. The worst they will do is abstain.

Alex talked a bit about why he was standing:

I will be putting myself forward in the vote for First Minister. I believe that Scotland is at a crossroads.

This leadership contest has shown Humza Yousaf will always prioritise breaking up the UK. My priorities are the cost of the living crisis, the state of the NHS and the climate emergency. That is what the public want to see Scotland’s Parliament focused on at this difficult time.

In the future, though, he will have to both start delivering in Government and try to get his party under control. Under Salmond’s and Sturgeon’s leadership, the party was very tightly controlled by a small number of people. The tensions that were long simmering beneath the surface burst forth during the campaign. Putting that genie back into the bottle is not going to be easy.

Humza Yousaf is a good bloke, but he has a massive job ahead of him.

I am quite sad to see Nicola Sturgeon go. Her government has made errors, many unforced, but you can’t fault her work ethic, her commitment to diversity, her feminism or her commitment to LGBT rights. She is a skilled communicator and one of the best leaders we have had in Scotland and certainly of the Governments across the UK.

She wasn’t always able to put her progressive values into action as much as I would have liked but she has made a difference with things like the Scottish Child Payment.

In Nicola Sturgeon’s own party she definitely improved diversity and inspired a generation of young people in a way her successor won’t be able to. Her troubles within the SNP perhaps have as much to do with revenge from Salmond supporters as anything else.

I will not forget Nicola Sturgeon’s personal kindness to me when my friend Andrew Reeves died. She took time out of her day to send a random opposition nobody a lovely message.

One of Sturgeon’s best legacies has been a well funded third sector which has done much to improve Government policy and people’s lives. Let’s hope that continues.

So I wish Nicola Sturgeon very well for the next stage of her life.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings