Succeeding three years of Richard Leonard's leadership, 37-years old Glasgow-native Anas Sarwar has become the first Muslim to lead the Scottish Labour Party.
It is the greatest honour of my life to be elected leader of @ScottishLabour.
— Anas Sarwar (@AnasSarwar) February 27, 2021
I will be a leader that focuses on what unites us as a country - not what divides us. pic.twitter.com/Gu08Sx0TNl
Coming from a Pakistani family, Sarwar has been well-acquainted with local politics as his father Mohammad Sarwar had previously been a member of the UK parliament between 1997 to 2010.
Even though he holds a degree in dentistry from the University of Glasgow, Sarwar made a career-switch to politics back in 2010, running for the general elections of Scotland in the same year.
Anas Sarwar elected as the new Labour Leader of Scotland.I’m so proud of my youngest son,I’m sure he will lead with dignity & honesty. #LabourLeader2021 pic.twitter.com/Yhu9CbyVAq
— Perveen Sarwar (@PerveenSarwar) February 27, 2021
Party politics aside, it’s a day of celebration that a main stream political party has just elected a Muslim man to lead it. He’s the first Person of Colour to lead a UK political party. Massive congrats to @AnasSarwar ?
— Anna Yearley (@AnnaYearley) February 27, 2021
Sarwar has been a member of the Scottish Labour Party since he was 16-years-old and identifies his ideology as Brownite, in reference to the UK's Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party Gordon Brown 2007-2010.
Many people took to social media to celebrate the win of the young politician, including the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, in addition to Sarwar's own mother.
Huge congratulations to @AnasSarwar on being elected as the new leader of Scottish Labour. An incredible achievement.
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) February 27, 2021
His commitment to tackling child poverty, climate change and to protecting our NHS will lead the way in rebuilding @ScottishLabour. pic.twitter.com/yN7XMHPvxr
Some people also highlighted the fact that Scotland is becoming more diverse allowing children of immigrants to reach such high leadership positions, especially that Sarwar is also the first person of color to lead a political party in the UK.
