IT has been all change among the elite of Scottish politics lately. During a tempest of scandal and declining support, the SNP have a new leader and Scotland has a new First Minister — but the fundamental contradictions in our society and economy remain the same.

The anointed prince is of course Humza Yousaf — and he has gotten off to a bumpy start, to say the least.

Yousaf has been a regular fixture in key positions at the top of the Scottish government since Nicola Sturgeon rose to power following the failed 2014 independence campaign. Always in favour within his party, the public reception has been less adoring, and it would be fair to say that his record as cabinet secretary for health, and before that, covering the justice portfolio, was more than a bit suspect.

Yousaf’s promotion to the top job as steward of Scotland’s health service in 2021 came as quite a surprise to many at the time. He quickly opted not to confound expectations as he continued Scotland’s incredibly concerning record on drug deaths and supervised one of the worst Accident and Emergency crises the country has ever seen, including record waiting times and ambulances needing to be driven by the army.

For a period it seemed his days as Cabinet Secretary for Health were numbered, an assumption that turned out to be true after all, but not in the way most had imagined.

It is well known that Yousaf was Nicola Sturgeon’s chosen successor, even if that decision may have been forced on her by having no other real choice, but there can be no doubt that the new man has little of the gravitas or impact of his predecessor.

While we can undoubtedly see, from a socialist perspective, that Yousaf is a preferable First Minister compared to Kate Forbes and Ash Regan (the two MSPs he defeated in the leadership contest this year) his commitment to a fairer Scotland is already under serious suspicion and his ability to keep the ship steady looks close to non-existent.

I have some sympathy for him in terms of the latter, as he has been left with a mess Sturgeon certainly saw coming. The approaching storm has led to the arrest of her husband Peter Murrell, the former party chief executive and the SNP’s auditors resigning entirely in the face of serious allegations facing the party’s ruling clique.

It seems all the clearer why some of the SNP’s more senior figures like Angus Robertson opted to avoid the leadership contest altogether.

It is safe to say Yousaf’s reign looks set to be more about scandal than substance, and while to begin with it promised little in terms of policy, so far it has delivered even less.

Despite this, I was shocked to see the First Minister recently announce that the bar was to be lowered even further as he made it clear that he did not believe universal free school meals were an effective way to tackle poverty. His comments have been decried by voices across the third sector and trade union movement, including Unite the Union and the Poverty Alliance.

Underlying this we can determine that expectation management has not taken long at all to be the order of play and the charge to hold on to Scotland’s wealthier middle class has begun.

A very common experience under both Alec Salmond and Sturgeon before him. Promise era-defining justice, deliver stumbling continuity. Rinse and repeat.

Statements like this smack of low ambition and yet more tinkering around the edges rather than addressing poverty and inequality head-on. Add that to Yousaf’s already documented penchant for dropping the ball and I fear we have some very rough years ahead of us — if he lasts that long.

If this is the legacy Sturgeon has left behind I very much doubt her party will remain in power. Scottish Labour is already preparing the ground for a new government and we stand ready to push forward an innovative agenda of investment and economic justice. Recent polls show the public is open to that change and listening to what we say. It cannot come soon enough.

Carol Mochan is Scottish Labour MSP for South Scotland — follow her on Twitter @CMochan.