Humza Yousaf is ‘charming’, but lacks vision and is not up to the job, says Anas Sarwar

The Scottish Labour leader also joked that Jackie Baillie is his party’s ‘designated b*****d’

Humza Yousaf is “very charming”, but not up to the job of being First Minister, the leader of Scottish Labour has said.

Anas Sarwar said Mr Yousaf lacks both a “clear sense of direction” and a vision for his government.

He made the comments during an on-stage interview on Friday at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where he also joked his deputy, Jackie Baillie, is the party’s “designated b*****d”.

Anas Sarwar and Humza Yousaf

Mr Sarwar was asked about “trash talk” between him and Mr Yousaf during First Minister’s Questions (FMQs) in Holyrood.

He said there was an element of theatre during FMQs, adding: “The point I’d make about Humza is, you have to feel sorry for him in some senses, in terms of what he has inherited. It would not have been the inheritance he wanted in terms of the political climate he’s found himself in.

“I’ve always found him to be a very amenable, positive, good company – I think he’s always been a very charming individual. I think he is a good person to be around. So I have no questions on his character.

“I think he’s a really, really nice guy, I just don’t think he’s up to the job. That is the brutal reality and obviously we have to be up front about that in our politics.

“I think for far too long in our politics we’ve got to the place of thinking that if we disagree with someone, you have to dislike them. I think we’ve had enough of that to be honest in our politics in Scotland.”

Asked in what way Mr Yousaf was not up to the job, Mr Sarwar said: “I don’t think he has a clear sense of direction about what it is he believes, what it is he thinks his Government is for and what the purpose of his SNP Government is.”

Hosting the event, journalist Graham Speirs asked Mr Sarwar if all political leaders needed to be “a bit of a b*****d”.

Mr Sarwar said: “I think niceness can work in politics. I think niceness is important. People vote for people, therefore you’ve got to have positive relationships.

“Have you got to have the ability to make tough decisions? Yes. Do you have to have an ability to sometimes say something that is unpopular? Yes. Do you have sometimes to pick a hard side? Yes. But I wouldn’t call that the word you used, I’d call that leadership.

“And I think leadership is important because … people vote for people and people want leadership and I think our country needs leadership right now, both across the UK and in Scotland, and if that means being the B-word sometimes, then that’s fine.

“Although a good piece of advice somebody gave me was, you should always have a designated bastard in your team. People can make their own judgment about who that is on the Scottish Labour team.”

Mr Speirs asked him: “You mean you need a henchman to sort people?” Mr Sarwar replied: “I think that’s a really unfortunate way of describing Jackie Baillie.”

Ms Baillie, a political veteran who has served in Holyrood since the start of devolution, has been Mr Sarwar’s deputy since 2020.