Joanna Cherry | |
---|---|
Member of Parliament for Edinburgh South West | |
Assumed office 7 May 2015 | |
Preceded by | Alistair Darling |
Majority | 11,982 (23.0%) |
SNP Spokesperson for Home Affairs in the House of Commons | |
In office 20 May 2015 –1 February 2021 | |
Leader | Angus Robertson Ian Blackford |
Preceded by | Office established |
Succeeded by | Stuart McDonald |
SNP Spokesperson for Justice in the House of Commons | |
In office 20 May 2015 –1 February 2021 | |
Leader | Angus Robertson Ian Blackford |
Preceded by | Office established |
Succeeded by | Anne McLaughlin |
Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights | |
Assumed office 10 January 2024 | |
Preceded by | Harriet Harman |
In office 21 July 2022 –26 June 2023 | |
Preceded by | Harriet Harman |
Succeeded by | Harriet Harman |
Personal details | |
Born | Joanna Catherine Cherry 18 March 1966 Edinburgh,Scotland |
Political party | Scottish National Party (2008-present) |
Other political affiliations | Labour (1980s) [1] |
Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
Joanna Catherine Cherry KC (born 18 March 1966) is a Scottish politician and lawyer serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Edinburgh South West since 2015. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP),she was the party's Shadow Home Secretary and Shadow Secretary of State for Justice in the House of Commons from 2015 to 2021.
Cherry was born on 18 March 1966 to Mary Margaret (née Haslette) and Thomas Alastair Cherry. [2] She was educated at Holy Cross primary school,then at St Margaret's Convent School in Edinburgh [3] and the University of Edinburgh. [4]
Following her graduation,Cherry worked as a research assistant with the Scottish Law Commission (1990) before practising as a solicitor with the Edinburgh legal firm Brodies WS until 1995. She also worked as a part-time tutor in constitutional law,family law and civil court practice at the University of Edinburgh from 1990 to 1996. [5]
Cherry was admitted as an advocate in 1995,with a particular interest in employment and industrial relations,health and safety,mental health,personal injury and professional negligence. [2] [5]
She served as a Standing Junior Counsel to the Scottish Government from 2003 to 2008,and as an Advocate Depute and Senior Advocate Depute from 2008 until 2011. She was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 2009 [6] (becoming a King's Counsel on the death of Elizabeth II) and was an advocate with the Arnot Manderson stable within the Faculty of Advocates [7] until her election to parliament. [8]
Cherry set up the "Lawyers for Yes" group,which campaigned for a "Yes" (pro-independence) vote in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. [9]
In February 2015,she was adopted as the Scottish National Party (SNP) candidate for Edinburgh South West in the May 2015 United Kingdom general election, [10] winning the seat,previously held by former Chancellor Alistair Darling with a majority of over 8,000. [11] Following her election,Cherry was appointed as the SNP spokesperson for Justice and Home Affairs at Westminster. [12]
In September 2016,she issued an apology after defending a comedy rap group Witsherface performance at a pro-independence event that had been criticised as homophobic. [13] The performance had called Conservative leader Ruth Davidson "Dykey' D" and had portrayed her making her inappropriate comments towards SNP MP Mhairi Black. [14]
In May 2017,Cherry apologised for telling journalists that a nurse,who had told a TV debate audience she had been unable to survive on her salary and had to use food banks,was suspected to be the wife of a Conservative councillor. False claims about Claire Austin were retweeted by other SNP politicians and the nurse experienced online and offline harassment. [15]
She held her seat in the June 2017 general election [16] [17] although with a reduced majority of just over 1,000 votes,making her seat the most marginal in Edinburgh at the time. [18] Following the election,she came second to Ian Blackford by a few votes to succeed Angus Robertson as SNP Westminster group leader. [19]
In October 2017,she was an observer at the 2017 Catalan independence referendum. [20]
In May 2019,executives from Facebook and Twitter appeared before the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights,of which Cherry was a member, [21] and faced accusations over the way they handled abuse and harassment of parliamentarians on social media. Cherry cited several abusive tweets,that were not removed swiftly by Twitter,something the company's head of UK government,public policy and philanthropy,Katy Minshall,described as "absolutely an undesirable situation". [22] Following the meeting,Cherry received police protection whilst attending her constituency surgery,having received a death threat sent via social media. [23]
Following a High Court ruling in May 2019,in favour of The Daily Telegraph ,The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority released figures confirming that 377 MPs had had their parliamentary credit cards suspended for "late,incomplete or incorrect expenses claims since 2015". [24] Cherry was included on that list,with the paper reporting that she had had her official credit card repeatedly suspended for failing to repay money on time. [25]
On 11 May 2019 The Times reported that Cherry was being investigated by the House of Commons over bullying complaints from four former employees. [26] Cherry rejected the allegations,and alleged that they were part of a politically motivated 'smear' campaign,from those within the SNP ranks who opposed her and her views. [27] [28] One former staff member took the complaint forward,alleging that Cherry both condoned bullying by her office manager and partook in bullying behaviour herself. Cherry was exonerated by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards,and given leave to issue a statement to that effect –"I'm pleased to be able to advise that I have been exonerated after an independent investigation into complaints that I had either condoned or been engaged in bullying within my constituency office. As I predicted,the allegations have not been upheld." [29]
Cherry was the leading litigant in the Scottish court case challenging the five-week prorogation of Parliament by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Her case Cherry v Advocate General for Scotland ,together with a case brought in England and Wales by Gina Miller,was ultimately successful in the Supreme Court,resulting in the quashing of the prorogation on 24 September 2019. [30]
Cherry was re-elected as MP for Edinburgh South West in the 2019 general election,with an increased majority of nearly 12,000. [31]
In February 2020,Cherry announced that she was seeking nomination from the SNP Edinburgh Central constituency branch to run as the candidate for Edinburgh Central in the Scottish Parliament and would stand down as an MP in the House of Commons if elected. [32] Angus Robertson also announced his intention to seek nomination for the Edinburgh Central constituency. In July 2020,Cherry announced she was ruling out a bid for Holyrood,stating that the conditions for standing as an MSP were unreasonable and made a fair contest involving her "impossible". [33]
Cherry was sacked from the SNP's front bench on 1 February 2021 by the party leadership. [19] Cherry tweeted:"Despite hard work,results and a strong reputation I've been sacked today from the SNP front bench." [34] The party's Westminster leader Ian Blackford said:"Team working and cooperation are key to ensure results and this reshuffle will give us a strong team to take us forward." [35] An SNP spokesman said in a statement:"Joanna Cherry was removed from the front bench because of unacceptable behaviour,which did not meet the standards expected of a front bench spokesperson –not because of the views she holds." [36]
On 21 February 2021,Cherry was criticised by the Scottish branch of PEN International for her attempts to silence critics who questioned her by threatening defamation action. [37] After Cherry disputed she had taken legal action,letters from her solicitors on her behalf were published. Jo Maugham,with whom she had worked on the legal challenge over Boris Johnson's prorogation of Parliament,said "Because defending defamation proceedings is so expensive,a well-funded claimant can bully critics into silence and,by marking the threats 'confidential',suppress transparency over the fact they are doing so. This feels profoundly wrong to me." [38]
On 26 March 2021,Cherry announced that she would step back from her public duties for health reasons. [39] On 10 May 2021,following the 2021 Scottish Parliament election,she began a gradual return to her public activities. [40] On 31 May 2021,she resigned from the SNP national executive committee. [41]
In July 2022,Cherry was elected as the chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights,having previously served as the deputy chair. [42] She was covering for Harriet Harman,who temporarily stepped down to chair the Privileges Committee during its investigation into Boris Johnson,and returned to the deputy role after the investigation concluded. [43]
During the 2023 SNP leadership contest,Cherry was the only SNP parliamentarian to endorse Ash Regan,and introduced her at her campaign launch. [44] On 13 February,Cherry called for SNP chief executive Peter Murrell—husband of outgoing party leader Nicola Sturgeon—to step down during the contest. [45] He stepped down on 17 March over a dispute around publication of membership numbers. [46]
In July 2023 Cherry appeared in court to address what she described as "frightening threats", [47] as her chief of staff,Fraser Thomson,said:"I took it to be a very serious attempt on Joanna Cherry's life." A 23-year-old woman was cleared of threatening her,as the judge found reasonable doubt that the tweet "STG I am gonna pop Joanna Cherry",in reply to a newspaper article on her,was grossly offensive,or of an indecent,obscene or menacing character. [48]
Election | Votes | % Vote | Elected candidate | % Majority | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2015 general election | Edinburgh South West | 22,168 | 43.0 | Joanna Cherry (SNP) | 15.8 |
2017 general election | Edinburgh South West | 17,575 | 35.6 | Joanna Cherry (SNP) | 2.2 |
2019 general election | Edinburgh South West | 24,830 | 47.6 | Joanna Cherry (SNP) | 23 |
Cherry supports both Scottish independence and a proposed second Scottish independence referendum. [49] [50] She has been described as a more hardline supporter of independence,advocating a less cautious approach towards holding a second referendum than Nicola Sturgeon,including the holding a referendum even if the Scottish government could not come to an agreement with the British government over such a referendum. [51] [52] [53] [54] She has stated that she believes emulating the Irish First Dáil could be a path forward for the Scottish independence movement,stating that "One hundred years ago,Irish independence came about not as a result of a referendum but as a result of a treaty negotiated between Irish parliamentarians and the British Government after nationalist MPs had won the majority of Irish seats in the 1918 general election and withdrawn to form a provisional government in Dublin." [55] She has additionally denied that she advocates for illegally holding a referendum. [56]
She has long admired Alex Salmond,describing him after her election as "the person I most admire in my political life by a mile." [1] During the Alex Salmond scandal concerning accusations of sexual harassment against former SNP leader and First Minister Alex Salmond,Cherry was described as one of his allies in the party and a critic of current SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon. [57] [58] [59] Before the trial,Cherry told Holyrood that "Alex is my friend,and I was brought up to stand by my friends. It's the kind of family I come from. Alex is clear that he's innocent and I respect that." [60] In March 2020,after Salmond was acquitted in court,she called for a public inquiry into the SNP's handling of the accusations against him. [61] She later called for him to be reinstated to the party. [62] In February 2021,she called for the government to release documents which Salmond claimed proved that Sturgeon and her allies had conspired against him. [63]
In March 2021,when Salmond formed the Alba Party,she denied speculation that she would be defecting along with him. [64]
In 2015 Cherry said that as a teenager,she wanted to be a Labour MP. [1] She was very involved with Labour Students while at university,a contemporary of Douglas Alexander. She remained in the Labour Party after graduation,before becoming disillusioned in their lack of action on home rule and insufficient opposition to the Poll tax. She started voting for the SNP "in the mid 90s before joining the party in 2008". [1]
After her lack of inclusion in Ian Blackford's front bench in 2021,she spoke of approaches from that party for her to defect,saying "“I've had approaches from people in the Labour Party and people in the Alba party". She added:“If I lived in England,I would definitely be a member of the Labour Party. I have a great affection for the Labour Party". [65]
In October 2021,Cherry criticised the Biden administration's actions during the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and the Fall of Kabul,and urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to help the refugees fleeing the Taliban. [66]
Cherry supported Remain during the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum and has supported an independent Scotland joining the European Union. [67] [68] In March 2019,she announced she would be proposing a motion to force the government to revoke Article 50 if the UK was due to leave in a No Deal Brexit on 10 April that year. [69]
In July 2020,she called for the SNP to stop fighting against Brexit,stating that "we lost the battle and Brexit is now an irreversible reality." [70]
Cherry has opposed proposed reforms of the Gender Recognition Act in Scotland which would allow transgender people to obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate on the basis of a statutory declaration,replacing the current system that requires interview by a panel and medical reports. [71] [72] [73] She signed the SNP Women's Pledge,which originated amongst members of the SNP but is not affiliated with it and which opposes the reforms. [71] [74]
Cherry has denied accusations of transphobia,stating that she approaches the issue "as a feminist" and that there was a "big dose of misogyny" in debates over Gender Recognition Act reform. She said that the statement "women don't have penises" is an "undeniable biological fact". [75] She has stated that she has faced abuse over her position and that sections of the SNP with opposing views have "engaged in performative histrionics redolent of the Salem witch trials". [76]
In January 2021,she supported an amendment to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 that would have exempted "criticism of matters relating to transgender identity" from violating provisions relating to protected characteristics in the bill. [77] Later that month,she was criticised by SNP colleague Kirsty Blackman,after attacking and threatening to sue the party's LGBT wing,who had been critical of her defence of Sarah Phillimore,who had been banned from Twitter for allegedly making transphobic and antisemitic statements. [78] [79] In June,she signalled her support for For Women Scotland campaigner Marion Millar,who was charged under the Malicious Communications Act 1988,with a hate-crime aggravator,for allegedly transphobic and homophobic social media posts. [80] Later that month,Cherry announced that she was returning to the bar to defend Millar in court. [81] The case was subsequently dropped by prosecutors. [82]
Writing in The National in June 2021,Cherry stated that some veteran members of the LGBT+ community no longer felt welcome at Pride events due to their views on transgender rights,claimed that LGBT+ rights charity Stonewall's workplace inclusion schemes misrepresent the law,and stated her belief that "many same-sex attracted women and those who hold gender-critical beliefs have found themselves in a relationship of coercive control with employers,service providers and membership organisations". [83] In response a letter to the editor was published in the National,from the Director of LGBT charity Equality Network,Tim Hopkins,disputing Cherry's position. [84]
In November 2021,Cherry was accused of "justifying conversion therapy" for transgender people after she tweeted that a ban on conversion therapy "must not make it a criminal offence for therapists to try to help patients with gender dysphoria to feel comfortable in their birth sex". [85] In the days following her comments the SNP's official LGBTQ+ wing,Out for Independence,and SNP Students both called for party leadership to remove the whip from Cherry,and for an independent investigation into transphobia in the SNP. [86] When her position was criticised by the Equality Network, [87] one of Scotland's national LGBTI charities,Cherry called for a Scottish Government investigation into the charity and for Shona Robison,the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice,to make it clear to the charity that its behaviour was inappropriate for a government-funded organisation. [88] [89]
In August 2022,in a public letter to Jason Leitch,the national clinical director for the Scottish government,Cherry argued that trans young people "must be treated like any other children with psychological problems" and called for Scotland's only gender identity clinic to be closed. [90] [91] In October 2022, The Daily Telegraph reported that,with fellow "gender critical" parliamentarians Rosie Duffield and Anne Jenkin,Baroness Jenkin of Kennington,she was setting up a cross-party "biology policy unit","to help ensure policies across the public sector that are based on gender identity theory are documented and scrutinised". [92]
In May 2023,The Stand Comedy Club cancelled a proposed event by Cherry,who compared the cancellation to actions by the Stasi. The Stand reversed the cancellation when Cherry threatened to make a legal claim against them for discrimination in respect of her "gender-critical" beliefs." [93] [94] Following her Stand appearance that August,Cherry said that she felt "palpable hostility" from staff working the event,saying "Stand staff saw fit to continue the unlawful harassment of me on account of my sexuality and beliefs". The manager of the event said "[as] one of only four people she dealt with on the day (only two of them staff of the Stand) I am very surprised at this. It was not raised at the event and cannot imagine what she is talking about." [95]
Cherry lists her personal interests as travel,reading and swimming. [2] She is a lesbian. [96]
The Scottish National Party is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party. The party holds 63 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 43 out of the 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons in Westminster. It has 453 local councillors of 1,227.
James Sillars is a Scottish politician and campaigner for Scottish independence. Sillars served as a Labour Party MP for South Ayrshire from 1970 to 1976. He founded and led the pro-Scottish Home Rule Scottish Labour Party in 1976,continuing as MP for South Ayrshire until he lost the seat in 1979.
John Ramsay Swinney is a Scottish politician who served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland from 2014 to 2023. He held various Scottish Cabinet roles under First Ministers Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon from 2007 to 2023. Swinney has served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Perthshire North since 2011,having previously represented North Tayside from 1999 to 2011. He was the Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2000 to 2004.
Angus Struan Carolus Robertson is a Scottish politician serving as the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution,External Affairs and Culture since 2021. Former Depute Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2016 to 2018,he has served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Edinburgh Central since 2021. Robertson previously served as a Westminster MP for Moray from 2001 to 2017,where he served from 2007 to 2017 as the Leader of the SNP in the House of Commons.
Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2014 to 2023. She has served as a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) since 1999,first as an additional member for the Glasgow electoral region,and as the member for Glasgow Southside from 2007.
In Scotland,the Scottish National Party (SNP) is a left social democratic political party which campaigns for Scottish independence. The SNP has controlled Scotland's devolved legislature since the 2007 election as a minority government,and were a majority government from the 2011 election and have been a minority government,since the 2016 election.
Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond is a Scottish politician,economist and television host,who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure in the Scottish nationalist movement,he has served as Leader of the Alba Party since 2021. Salmond was leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP),on two occasions,from 1990 to 2000 and from 2004 to 2014. He served as the party's depute leader from 1987 to 1990. Salmond hosted The Alex Salmond Show (2017–2022) on RT UK. He currently hosts Scotland Speaks with Alex Salmond (2023–present).
Events from the year 2014 in Scotland.
Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh OBE WS NP is a Scottish politician,serving as chair of the Alba Party since 2021. She was also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ochil and South Perthshire from 2015 to 2017. A former member of the Scottish Conservatives,Labour,and the Scottish National Party (SNP),Ahmed-Sheikh served as the SNP's Trade and Investment spokesperson,Deputy Shadow Leader of the House in the House of Commons,and the SNP's National Women's and Equalities Convener. A solicitor and businessperson,and a former actress,Ahmed-Sheikh founded and formerly chaired the Scottish Asian Women's Association.
The 2014 Scottish National Party leadership election was held to choose the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and First Minister of Scotland,following the resignation of Alex Salmond as first minister and leader. Nicola Sturgeon emerged as the only candidate and was elected unopposed as leader of the SNP.
Mhairi Black is a Scottish politician who has served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in the House of Commons since December 2022.
Kirsty Blackman is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aberdeen North since 2015.
Michelle Rhonda Thomson is a Scottish businesswoman and Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. She has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Falkirk East since May 2021.
Ashten Regan is a Scottish politician. She has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Edinburgh Eastern since 2016. Initially elected to parliament for the Scottish National Party (SNP),she defected to the Alba Party. Regan served under First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as the minister for community safety from 2018 until she resigned in 2022 in protest against her government's Gender Recognition Reform bill.
A second referendum on the independence of Scotland from the United Kingdom (UK) has been proposed by the Scottish Government. An independence referendum was first held on 18 September 2014,with 55% voting "No" to independence. The Scottish Government stated in its white paper for independence that voting Yes was a "once in a generation opportunity to follow a different path,and choose a new and better direction for our nation". Following the "No" vote,the cross party Smith Commission proposed areas that could be devolved to the Scottish Parliament;this led to the passing of the Scotland Act 2016,formalising new devolved policy areas in time for the 2016 Scottish Parliament election campaign.
The Alba Party is a Scottish nationalist and pro-independence political party in Scotland,founded in February 2021,led by former first minister of Scotland Alex Salmond. Salmond launched the party's 2021 Scottish Parliament election campaign in March 2021,with the party standing list-only candidates. Two members of Parliament (MPs) in the UK House of Commons defected from the Scottish National Party (SNP) to the Alba Party on 27 March 2021,and member of the Scottish parliament Ash Regan defected on 28 October 2023. Several former SNP MPs also joined the party. To date no Alba Party candidate has been elected at any election.
Nicola Sturgeon's term as first minister of Scotland began on 20 November 2014 when she was formally sworn into office at the Court of Session. It followed Alex Salmond's resignation following the defeat of the Yes campaign in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. She is the first female and longest serving officeholder. Sturgeon's premiership was dominated by Brexit,which she used as an argument to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence,however,opposition from the UK Government,the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,the cost of living crisis and the ruling against her government holding an advisory referendum would be obstacles for Sturgeon securing her legacy of gaining Scottish independence. Sturgeon's term ended on 29 March 2023,following her resignation announcement on 15 February,in which she claimed occupational burnout was the reason for her resignation.
Nicola Sturgeon served as deputy first minister of Scotland under First Minister Alex Salmond from 2007 until she succeeded Salmond in 2014. She was the first woman to hold office. Sturgeon,in parallel to serving as deputy first minister,served as the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing from 2007 to 2012 and Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure,Capital Investment and Cities from 2012 to 2014.
The 2022 Scottish National Party (SNP) Westminster leadership election was held to choose the leader of the SNP in the House of Commons,following the resignation of Ian Blackford on 1 December 2022. Stephen Flynn and Alison Thewliss were the two MPs who ran in the election. Flynn was elected by 26 votes to 17.
The 2023 Scottish National Party leadership election took place in February and March 2023 to choose the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) to succeed Nicola Sturgeon,who announced her resignation on 15 February. Nominations closed on 24 February 2023 with three candidates:Kate Forbes,Ash Regan,and Humza Yousaf. Yousaf was elected the new leader on 27 March with 48.2% of first preference votes and 52.1% of the vote after third-placed candidate Regan's second preferences were redistributed. Yousaf was elected as the First Minister of Scotland on 28 March 2023.