Nadia El-Nakla

Nadia El-Nakla
El-Nakla in 2023
Councillor of Dundee City Council for West End Ward 3
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 May 2022
Preceded by	Richard McCready
Personal details
Born	Nadia Maged El-Nakla 1984 (age 40–41) Dundee, Scotland
Political party	Scottish National Party
Spouse	Fariad Umar ​ ​ (m. 2007; div. 2017)​ Humza Yousaf ​ (m. 2019)​
Children	3
Parent(s)	Maged and Elizabeth El-Nakla
Alma mater	University 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

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

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

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

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. "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.