SNP Leadership Election
And the winner is Humza Yousaf who along with his wife and family, including his parents, were all at BT Murrayfield to hear the announcement which came just after 2pm.
The leadership vote is another one calculated by Single Transferable Vote so when Humza Yousaf did not achieve 50% of the vote, Ash Regan’s bid to become leader fell and her second preference votes were then distributed. As a result of the second round, Mr Yousaf achieved 52.1% of the vote and became the Leader of the SNP. On Tuesday just 24 hours after he was voted the new leader there will be a further vote at parliament after which he will become the sixth First Minister.
There are others who will stand against Mr Yousaf but it is unlikely that anyone else will get the necessary votes. The Scottish Greens have confirmed today that a meeting of the Party Council unanimously voted for the Green MSPs to support Humza Yousaf in becoming First Minister. This means that the Bute House Agreement – the formal agreement which enabled the Greens to become Ministers in The Scottish Government – is also likely to be upheld.
The First Minister will be formally sworn in at a ceremony in the Court of Session, probably on Wednesday morning. After that the new First Minister will start to appoint members of his cabinet. Whether or not that includes his two opponents in the leadership election is not yet clear.
Essential Edinburgh voted in again
Essential Edinburgh, the company that manages and delivers the Business Improvement District in the city centre, has been voted back in with a 92% vote in favour of continuing the BID for the next five years.
Chief Executive Roddy Smith said: “The high level of support amongst businesses is a ringing endorsement of the work to date of Essential Edinburgh, and also of the business plan we put to our levy payers for the next five years. The city centre is recovering strongly post pandemic and we look forward to working proactively and in partnership with the Edinburgh business community to support change, progress and economic growth.
“Essential Edinburgh will deliver on the business plan, as we have done over the past fifteen years, to ensure the £1 million a year our businesses invest in the city centre is spent wisely, innovatively and on exciting projects and services that make the city centre the best in Britain.”
Essential Edinburgh runs campaigns like Eat Out Edinburgh and Film Fest in the City.
easyJet offer Twilight bag drop
Passengers flying with easyJet from Edinburgh Airport can now drop their bags the day before their flight as the airline introduces its Twilight Bag Drop service.
Airline passengers on early morning flights can come to the airport the night before to check in bags, meaning they can head straight to security on the day of travel.
Twilight Bag Drop will be available to all easyJet customers on flights departing before 12.00, and bags can be dropped between 4.00-9.00pm the day before they fly.
Adam Wilson, Chief Operating Officer at Edinburgh Airport said:“Providing options for passengers is a key strand to our overall offering to make the journey through the airport as smooth and efficient as possible – that’s a view shared by our partners at easyJet and it’s been great to work closely with them to bring the Twilight service into operation.
“We know a lot of customers will welcome the ability to check-in bags the night before their flight, meaning they can arrive at the airport in the morning, head straight to security and start their trip that little bit quicker.”
Edinburgh Seafood Festival
he Edinburgh Seafood Festival, in association with The Scotsman, is set to make a splash as it returns to St James Quarter, bringing delicious culinary delights from the Quarter and beyond from Friday 31 March – Sunday 2 April.
The festival will showcase a selection of the highest quality, locally sourced seafood as well as the impressive talents of the gastronomic geniuses behind some of St James Quarter’s most exciting dining destinations.
Guests looking to brush up on their culinary skills can enjoy a range of workshops and demonstrations, hosted by the experts on the Seafood Stage, located on Level 1, on Saturday and Sunday.
How to subscribe to The Edinburgh Reporter
We are working on the April issue of The Edinburgh Reporter newspaper now. Today we invite you to support The Edinburgh Reporter by buying a subscription and you will be sent the new paper as soon as it rolls off the press.
Our goal is to recruit 500 new subscribers this year. If you can will you please help us to achieve that?
Among others all branches of Farmer Autocare stock our newspapers as well as Birthlink on Lower Gilmore Place, and both Leith and Central Libraries. And if you have a business where you would like to stock our papers then please get in touch.
If you are able to subscribe, then it helps us to keep our online coverage free to access, and also ensure the future of our newspaper for this coming year. And if you do, then thank you very much indeed.
Buy a subscription here or click the image below.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
