Nadia El-Nakla

Nadia Maged El-Nakla (born 1984) is a Scottish psychotherapist, political activist and politician. She has served 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, first minister of Scotland and leader of the SNP.

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

1984 (age 38–39)
Dundee, Scotland
Political partyScottish National Party
Spouse
Fariad Umar
​
​
(m. 2007; div. 2017)​
​
(m. 2019)​
Children2
Parent(s)Maged and Elizabeth El-Nakla
Alma materAbertay University

Early life

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

Career

El-Nakla is a qualified psychotherapist counsellor and has experience working with addiction, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, eating disorders, bereavement and suicidal ideation. She is a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.[5]

She 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 ran 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, 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 racist text messages sent to El-Nakla by Craig Melville, an SNP councillor, with whom she was having a sexual affair, after using software to recover messages sent to her phone. The couple eventually filed for divorce.[11]

In 2019, El-Nakla married Humza Yousaf, the current first minister of Scotland and leader of the SNP.[12] 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.[13]

She has disclosed that she has had five miscarriages.[14]

In 2021, El-Nakla made a complaint of discrimination against a Dundee children's nursery that did not offer a place to her daughter.[15] The complaint was upheld by the Care Inspectorate who found that the nursery "did not promote fairness, equality and respect" in terms of its admission policy.[16] She later terminated the legal action.[17]

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 area to visit a sick relative.[18]

References
  1. "Ward 3 - West End - Nadia El-Nakla". Dundee City Council. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  2. "'There is nowhere to hide': Palestinian Scot fears for her family trapped in Gaza". The National. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  3. "Who is Humza Yousaf's wife Nadia El-Nakla?". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  4. Rawlinson, Kevin (October 13, 2023). "'Where is humanity?': Humza Yousaf's mother-in-law sends tearful video from Gaza" – via The Guardian.
  5. "Nadia El-Nakla". www.counselling-directory.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  6. Malik, Paul. "Dundee case worker married to justice secretary shares heartbreak after three miscarriages". The Courier. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  7. Brady, Jon (2022-03-21). "Humza Yousaf's wife standing as SNP candidate in Dundee council elections". Daily Record. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  8. "SNP gain in Dundee as Nadia El-Nakla wins seat". The National. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  9. El-Nakla, Nadia. "NADIA El-NAKLA: Why I pity the people hanging White Lives Matter banners in Dundee". The Courier. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  10. Marriage certificate of Nadia Maged El-Nakla and Fariad Mohammad Umar, 2007, 350 / 199 Dundee - National Records of Scotland
  11. Moncur, James (2018-01-26). "Husband of love-rat politician had no answers over SNP councillor racist texts". Daily Record. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  12. Mustafa, Filiz (2023-03-27). "Humza Yousaf's partner Nadia El-Nakla has been SNP councillor since last year". HITC. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  13. "Who is Humza Yousaf's wife Nadia El-Nakla?". The National. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  14. "'Nobody gives you a manual for this kind of stuff': Humza Yousaf and Nadia El-Nakla on their experience of multiple miscarriages". Holyrood Website. 2020-09-07. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  15. "Humza Yousaf complaint against Dundee nursery upheld". BBC News. 2021-11-03. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  16. Carrell, Severin (2021-11-03). "Scottish minister's complaint against nursery upheld by inspectors". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  17. "Nursery boss says Humza Yousaf's wife has 'terminated' legal action". The Independent. 2023-02-07. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  18. "Humza Yousaf says Israel is 'going too far' in Gaza". BBC News. BBC. 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
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