Scottish interests ‘ignored or ridiculed’
Joanna Cherry claims Ruth Davidson has been ‘largely absent from her constituency’
The SNP’S aim for Scotland to be an independent European nation can now only be realised from Holyrood, Edinburgh South West MP Joanna Cherry has said.
In an article headed “Why I’m standing to be MSP for Edinburgh Central”, Ms Cherry said in the wake of Boris Johnson’s general election victory, Scottish interests were “ignored or ridiculed” at Westminster.
She said: “I want to offer my services where I think they will be of most use.”
And, writing in a national newspaper, she claimed she was already shouldering a growing workload for Edinburgh Central because the existing MSP, former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson was “largely absent from the constituency”.
Ms Cherry announced last weekend she would seek to be selected as SNP candidate in Edinburgh Central at next year’s Holyrood elections. Her declaration came just days after the SNP’S former Westminster leader Angus Robertson said he would bid for the same seat. Both have been mentioned as possible successors to Nicola Sturgeon and the contest between them is being seen as a battle over the future direction of the SNP.
Mr Robertson is a key ally of the First Minister, while Ms Cherry has pressed for a bolder approach on a second independence referendum.
Ms Cherry said: “With a large Tory majority across England, the UK is now set firmly on a hard Tory agenda for the next decade. Scottish interests are ignored or ridiculed at Westminster. The movement for Scotland to be an independent European nation can only be realised from Holyrood.”
And she said: “Competition for candidacy is a healthy part of our democracy and our party. Just as no-one questions that it is good for our democracy to debate ideas, so it is good for the SNP to do so.”
Ms Cherry pointed out Edinburgh Central overlapped with her Westminster seat, including Gorgie, Dalry, Haymarket, Fountainbridge and part of Bruntsfield/tollcross.
And she went on: “Since the
SNP lost the Holyrood seat to the Tories in 2016, the workload for me and my team has increased because Ruth Davidson is largely absent from the constituency, does not hold surgeries or provide the kind of help and support that Ido.
“My weekly surgeries and my mailbox are full of people who have concerns which their MSP should be addressing at Holyrood.
“Unlike Ms Davidson, I have proved that it is possible to have a high profile on the nationalstagewhilealsoworking hard in the constituency. My victories over the Tories in the 2017 and 2019 general elections are testament to my reputation as a hard worker who gets things done.”
She said her seat had been a top Tory target in 2017, yet she held on and last year increased her majority to nearly 12,000.
In a separate article, Ms Cherry also argued the Lord Advocate, as Scotland’s chief legal officer, should “proactively” refer a Bill for a new independence referendum to the Supreme Court.
A Scottish Tory spokesman said: “Joanna Cherry is clearly rattled by the backlash she’s received for telling her Edinburgh South West constituents she wants to quit just two months after re-election, but she really should know better than to spread blatant untruths.
“Ruth is a diligent constituency MSP who holds multiple surgeries a month.”