family life". She said that if elected she would "pause" plans to introduce a national care service and seek more input from stakeholders. Regan said that Peter Murrell's positions as CEO of the party and Sturgeon's husband constituted a conflict of interest. Humza Yousaf The health secretary Humza Yousaf also announced his candidacy on 18 February 2023. He said that he wanted to increase support for Scottish independence before focusing on the means of delivering a referendum and committing to challenging the UK government's decision to block the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. He said that the rapist Isla Bryson was "pretending to be trans for the sake of making their life easier". He said he wanted to hear from members about options for securing another referendum on Scottish independence, but that he wanted to focus on "policy, because if independence becomes the settled will of the Scottish people then those political obstacles will disappear". He said that he is not "wedded" to using the next general election as a de facto referendum on Scottish independence and that one of the issues would be the inability for 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds to vote. He said he strongly supported continuing the co-operation agreement with the Scottish Greens. On 20 February he held a campaign launch in Clydebank, during which he presented himself as a continuity candidate to follow Sturgeon. He was seen as the candidate most aligned with Sturgeon and the party establishment. However, he was criticised for his handling of the NHS in Scotland. Yousaf said that the NHS would have faced the same issues no matter who was health secretary, and highlighted that his negotiations with trade unions had avoided industrial action in Scotland. He said that he would use his approach to pay negotiation in the NHS with every part of the public sector if he became first minister, to try to "make sure we don't have strikes in any industry". As health secretary, Yousaf had proposed a national care service to move social care from local government to a central organisation like the NHS. Various groups had criticised his plan, and as a leadership candidate he said he was willing to make compromises. He said that if he won the election, he would consider appointing Forbes to his cabinet. Yousaf committed to continue Sturgeon's progressive approach, and said that if Forbes won and became first minister he might