Following a vote among party members, Humza Yousaf will replace Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader and first minister of Scotland.
In a leadership contest that revealed significant divisions within the party, Mr. Yousaf prevailed over rivals Kate Forbes and Ash Regan.
The 37-year-old is the first Muslim to be in charge of a major UK party.
On Tuesday, he will officially become the first representative of an ethnic minority in a devolved administration.
Humza Yousaf is currently Scotland’s health secretary and was widely assumed to be Ms Sturgeon’s preferred successor, although she did not explicitly back any of the candidates in the contest.
The leadership election was decided by the Single Transferable Vote system, with 50,490 of the SNP’s 72,169 members casting a ballot – the vast majority of them online.
Mr Yousaf failed to win a majority in the first round of voting, but won 52.1% of the votes after second preference votes from Ms Regan, who was eliminated after finishing third, were redistributed.
Ms Forbes came second with 47.9% of the votes when second preferences were included, with Mr Yousaf receiving 26,032 votes and Ms Forbes 23,890.
The new SNP leader will face a vote in the Scottish Parliament – which he is certain to win – on Tuesday before becoming Scotland’s sixth first minister.
