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Nadia El-Nakla

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Nadia El-Nakla
El-Nakla in 2023
Councillor of Dundee City Council
for West End Ward 3
Incumbent
Assumed office
5 May 2022
Preceded byRichard McCready
Personal details
Born
Nadia Maged El-Nakla

1984 (age 39–40)
Dundee, Scotland
Political partyScottish National Party
Spouse
Fariad Umar
​
​
(m. 2007; div. 2017)​
​
(m. 2019)​
Children3
Parent(s)Maged and Elizabeth El-Nakla
Alma materUniversity of Dundee Abertay University[citation needed]

Nadia Maged El-Nakla (Arabic: نادية النقلة; born 1984 (1984)) is a Scottish psychotherapist, political activist and politician. She was elected as a councillor on Dundee City Council since 2022, representing the West End of Dundee.[1] She is a member of the Scottish National Party (SNP). She is married to Humza Yousaf, the former first minister of Scotland and former leader of the SNP.

Early life and education

[edit]

El-Nakla was born in Dundee, Scotland, to a Palestinian father and a Scottish mother.[2][3][4] She gained an MSc in Counselling from Abertay University.[5]

She is a qualified psychotherapist counsellor covering addiction, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, eating disorders, bereavement and suicidal ideation.[citation needed] She is a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.[5]

Career

[edit]

El-Nakla worked as a case worker for Shona Robison, the member of the Scottish Parliament for the Dundee City East constituency.[6]

In the 2022 Scottish local elections, El-Nakla stood as an SNP candidate in the Dundee City Council's west end ward 3.[7] She was successful in her election bid and currently sits as a councillor, serving as the equalities spokesperson.[8][9]

Personal life

[edit]
El-Nakla with her husband, Humza Yousaf, her elder daughter and her mother-in-law at the Court of Session, March 2023

El-Nakla was previously married to Fariad Umar, an IT expert, and they had one daughter together.[10] In November 2015, Umar discovered she had an affair with Craig Melville, an SNP councillor, who also later sent racist text messages to her. The Umars filed for divorce.[11][12][13][14]

In 2019, El-Nakla married Humza Yousaf, the future first minister of Scotland and leader of the SNP.[15] She later gave birth to her second daughter, first of Yousaf's, and the family lived in Broughty Ferry, a suburb a few miles east of the city of Dundee.[16] In March 2024, the couple announced that they were expecting another child.[17] On 17 July 2024, her husband announced the birth of their daughter, Liyana Jenin Yousaf.

She has disclosed that she has had four miscarriages.[18]

Her younger brother is Ramsay El-Nakla, who was charged with extortion and abduction in a case linked to a man who died after falling out of a window in Dundee in January 2024.[19] In 2021, El-Nakla told the Daily Record that she had made a complaint of discrimination against a Dundee children's nursery that did not offer a place to her daughter.[20] The Care Inspectorate found that the nursery "did not promote fairness, equality and respect" in terms of its admission policy.[21] She later terminated the legal action.[22]

In October 2023, her parents, Maged and Elizabeth El-Nakla, became trapped in the Gaza Strip during the Israel–Hamas war; after travelling to the Middle East to visit a sick relative from her father's side, where his Palestinian family relatives still reside.[23] On 3 November, they crossed the border to safety in Egypt.[24][25]

References

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  1. ^ "Ward 3 - West End - Nadia El-Nakla". Dundee City Council. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  2. ^ "'There is nowhere to hide': Palestinian Scot fears for her family trapped in Gaza". The National. 16 May 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  3. ^ "Who is Humza Yousaf's wife Nadia El-Nakla?". HeraldScotland. 27 March 2023. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  4. ^ Rawlinson, Kevin (13 October 2023). "'Where is humanity?': Humza Yousaf's mother-in-law sends tearful video from Gaza". The Guardian.
  5. ^ a b "Nadia El-Nakla". www.counselling-directory.org.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  6. ^ Malik, Paul (14 October 2019). "Dundee case worker married to justice secretary shares heartbreak after three miscarriages". The Courier. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  7. ^ Brady, Jon (21 March 2022). "Humza Yousaf's wife standing as SNP candidate in Dundee council elections". Daily Record. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  8. ^ "SNP gain in Dundee as Nadia El-Nakla wins seat". The National. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  9. ^ El-Nakla, Nadia (11 August 2022). "NADIA El-NAKLA: Why I pity the people hanging White Lives Matter banners in Dundee". The Courier. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  10. ^ Marriage certificate of Nadia Maged El-Nakla and Fariad Mohammad Umar, 2007, 350 / 199 Dundee - National Records of Scotland
  11. ^ Moncur, James (26 January 2018). "Husband of love-rat politician had no answers over SNP councillor racist texts". Daily Record. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  12. ^ "REVEALED: The anti-Muslim texts sent to former lover that 'ended the career' of ex Dundee councillor Craig Melville". 17 March 2018.
  13. ^ "Former Dundee SNP councillor sent racist texts". BBC News. 15 March 2018.
  14. ^ https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/ex-snp-councillor-fined-after-sending-racist-texts-to-muslim-lover-1425848
  15. ^ Mustafa, Filiz (27 March 2023). "Humza Yousaf's partner Nadia El-Nakla has been SNP councillor since last year". HITC. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  16. ^ "Who is Humza Yousaf's wife Nadia El-Nakla?". The National. 27 March 2023. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  17. ^ "Humza Yousaf and wife expecting baby in July". BBC News. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  18. ^ "'Nobody gives you a manual for this kind of stuff': Humza Yousaf and Nadia El-Nakla on their experience of multiple miscarriages". Holyrood Website. 7 September 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  19. ^ Carrell, Severin (9 April 2024). "Humza Yousaf's brother-in-law charged after man's death in Dundee". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 December 2024. Ramsay El-Nakla, 36, has been charged with abduction and extortion in a case linked to a man who died in hospital a week after falling from a window in a block of flats in Dundee on 10 January. El-Nakla, the younger brother of Nadia El-Nakla, the first minister's wife and Scottish National party councillor, is due to appear in Dundee sheriff court on Tuesday.
  20. ^ "Humza Yousaf complaint against Dundee nursery upheld". BBC News. 3 November 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  21. ^ Carrell, Severin (3 November 2021). "Scottish minister's complaint against nursery upheld by inspectors". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  22. ^ "Nursery boss says Humza Yousaf's wife has 'terminated' legal action". The Independent. 7 February 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  23. ^ "Humza Yousaf says Israel is 'going too far' in Gaza". BBC News. BBC. 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  24. ^ Parker, Fiona; MacAskill, Mark (3 November 2023). "Humza Yousaf's parents-in-law escape Gaza". The Telegraph.
  25. ^ "Humza Yousaf's family cross Gaza border to safety". BBC news. 3 November 2023.
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