Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf has suggested that he would be “chairman of Celtic Football Club” if he wasn’t involved in politics.
Mr Yousaf made the tongue-in-cheek admission during an appearance as a guest on politics podcast Pod Save the UK.
Comedian Nish Kumar - who co-hosts the podcast with journalist Coco Khan - asked the First Minister, on behalf of a listener, what job he would hold if he wasn’t in politics, before saying that he would tag on to the question the assumption that “it’s got to be something to do with Celtic”.
In response, a laughing Mr Yousaf said: “Yes, I mean other than being chairman of Celtic Football Club, which is of course would be what I would be doing if I wasn’t in politics.”
The First Minister then went on to say that he thinks he would “probably” be involved in the legal profession.
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He added: “When I was growing up you either had to be a doctor, dentist, pharmacist, accountant or lawyer. It was one of those and I always thought I would end up being a lawyer. In fact I put that down on my UCAS form here. I put down ‘law’ and all of options except in the last one I snuck in ‘politics’, and I got into both law and politics.
“I remember it was the scariest conversation I had to have with my parents, my lovely South Asian Desi parents, to tell them, ‘By the way I’m not going to do law I want to do politics’. I kind of braced myself for the inevitable slipper than was coming. But it didn’t come. My parents were exceptionally positive.
“So one answer to the short question is probably that it would have been something to do with law.”
During the podcast, which also touched on King Charles’ shock cancer news, independence and Brexit, and the challenge the SNP faces at the next general election, Mr Yousaf also likened being Scotland’s First Minister to being “captain of your national team”.
When asked if his ambition on entering politics was to lead the country and whether becoming First Minister - in March 2023 - happened “ahead of schedule”, Mr Yousaf responded: “I don’t think it was really so much a kind of ambition that I thought about particularly and proactively.
"It’s kind of like being the captain of your football team. Obviously it’s a greater responsibility I would suggest.
“But being the captain of your national team is something that you would absolutely be honoured to do. Privileged to do. And yes if the opportunity ever came up I think I had it in my head.
“You know, I’ve been in Government for so many years and ultimately that’s why I made the decision to go for it. It was, ‘Well I’ve done all these positions in Government over the years, I’ve got this experience. If not now then when? And there’s an opportunity. What’s the worst that can happen? The worst is you go for it and you don’t get it and fair play to the person that does, and you get on with the job. Or you get it and you have the greatest honour of your life, which is leading the country you love, the country you call home, the country you are raising your kids in. What you could be better than that?”
Earlier this week, the First Minister gave an insight into his love for Celtic while speaking on ‘The Rest is Politics’ podcast.
He said: “I’ve been a Celtic fan since I was six years old so to somehow pretend I wasn’t a Celtic fan would be a bit ridiculous.
“My late uncle, who sadly passed away quite young with pancreatic cancer, took me to my first ever Celtic game and I just fell in love with the club.”
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