Misplaced Pages

Latest revision as of 20:26, 5 January 2025

Joanna CherryKC
Official portrait, 2019
Member of Parliament for Edinburgh South West
In office 7 May 2015 – 30 May 2024
Preceded by	Alistair Darling
Succeeded by	Scott Arthur
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
In office 10 January 2024 – 30 May 2024
Preceded by	Harriet Harman
In office 21 July 2022 – 26 June 2023
Preceded by	Harriet Harman
Personal details
Born	Joanna Catherine Cherry (1966-03-18) 18 March 1966 (age 58) Edinburgh, Scotland
Political party	Scottish National Party (2008–present)
Other political affiliations	Labour (1980s)
Alma mater	University of Edinburgh

Joanna Catherine Cherry KC (born 18 March 1966) is a Scottish lawyer and former politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Edinburgh South West from 2015 until 2024. 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.

Early life and career

Joanna Cherry was born on 18 March 1966 in Edinburgh to Mary Margaret (née Haslette) and Thomas Alastair Cherry. She was educated at Holy Cross primary school, then at St Margaret's Convent School, before studying at the University of Edinburgh.

Following her graduation, Cherry worked as a research assistant with the Scottish Law Commission (1990) before practicing 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.

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.

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 (becoming a King's Counsel upon the death of Elizabeth II) and was an advocate with the Arnot Manderson stable within the Faculty of Advocates until her election to parliament.

Cherry set up the "Lawyers for Yes" group, which campaigned for a "Yes" (pro-independence) vote in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.

Political career

2015–17 Parliament

At the 2015 general election, Cherry was elected to Parliament as MP for Edinburgh South West with 43% of the vote and a majority of 8,135. Following her election, Cherry was appointed as the SNP spokesperson for Justice and Home Affairs at Westminster.

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. The performance had called Conservative leader Ruth Davidson "Dykey' D" and had portrayed her making her inappropriate comments towards SNP MP Mhairi Black.

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. These false claims were retweeted by other SNP politicians, with the nurse experiencing online and offline harassment.

2017–19 Parliament

Cherry was re-elected as MP for Edinburgh South West at the snap 2017 general election with a decreased vote share of 35.6% and a decreased majority of 1,097. Following the election, she came second to Ian Blackford by a few votes to succeed Angus Robertson as SNP Westminster group leader.

In October 2017, she was an observer at the 2017 Catalan independence referendum.

In May 2019, executives from Facebook and Twitter appeared before the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, of which Cherry was a member, 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". Following the meeting, Cherry received police protection whilst attending her constituency surgery, having received a death threat sent via social media.

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". 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.

On 11 May 2019 The Times reported that Cherry was being investigated by the House of Commons over bullying complaints from four former employees. 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. 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.".

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.

2019–24 Parliament

2019-21 SNP frontbench

At the 2019 general election, Cherry was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 47.6% and an increased majority of 11,982.

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. 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".

In January 2021, she supported an amendment to the (devolved) 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. 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.

A week later, Cherry was sacked from the SNP's front bench on 1 February 2021 by the party leadership. Cherry tweeted: "Despite hard work, results and a strong reputation I've been sacked today from the SNP front bench". 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". 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".

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. 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".

On 26 March 2021, Cherry announced that she would step back from her public duties for health reasons. On 10 May 2021, following the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, she began a gradual return to her public activities. On 31 May 2021, she resigned from the SNP national executive committee.

2021-24: Backbench campaigning

In June 2021, 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. Later that month, Cherry announced that she was returning to the bar to defend Millar in court. The case was subsequently dropped by prosecutors.

In July 2022, Cherry was elected as the chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, having previously served as the deputy chair. 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.

In October 2022, with fellow "gender critical" parliamentarians Rosie Duffield and Anne Jenkin, Baroness Jenkin of Kennington, Cherry set 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".

During the 2023 SNP leadership contest, Cherry was the only SNP parliamentarian to endorse Ash Regan, and introduced her at her campaign launch. On 13 February, Cherry called for SNP chief executive Peter Murrell—husband of outgoing party leader Nicola Sturgeon—to step down during the contest. He stepped down on 17 March over a dispute around publication of membership numbers.

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. 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: " 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."

In July 2023 Cherry appeared in court over what she described as "frightening threats". 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: 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.

After Parliament

In the 2024 General Election, Cherry lost her seat to the Scottish Labour Party, in a swing that the Centre on Constitutional Change described as "disproportionately large"; Allan Faulds of Ballot Box Scotland attributed this outlying result to her "thoroughly marmite" nature.

After she lost her seat, Cherry criticised her former party leader Nicola Sturgeon and said under her leadership the SNP's "reputation of governing competently and for integrity has taken a severe battering in the last couple of years." Sturgeon responded that it would be the "easy solution" for people to "take refuge in somehow it’s all my fault".

A week after the election Cherry ruled out standing for the Scottish Parliament in the 2026 election unless the party addresses her complaints and "faces up to the problem of misogyny" following an argument with a former party staffer on Twitter, who had accused her of bullying.

Political positions

Scottish independence

Cherry supports both Scottish independence and a potential second Scottish independence referendum. 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. 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". She has additionally denied that she advocates for illegally holding a referendum.

Political parties

In 2015 Cherry said that as a teenager, she wanted to be a Labour MP. 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".

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".

Cherry has had a number of views on the Bute House Agreement of 2021, which set up a power-sharing agreement between the SNP and the Scottish Greens, whose position on trans rights she disagreed with vehemently. In 2021, she said that she had voted to support the agreement, but in 2023 told a show at the Fringe, where she denied calling for the agreement to be "ripped up", that she had voted against it in 2021. In April 2024 she posted, while calling for the end of the agreement, that she had voted against it in 2021 before admitting that she had supported it.

Alex Salmond

She has long admired Alex Salmond, describing him after her election alongside him as "the person I most admire in my political life by a mile".

During the accusations and charges of sexual harassment against the former SNP leader and First Minister, Cherry was described as one of his allies in the party and a critic of then-leader Nicola Sturgeon. In March 2020, after Salmond was acquitted in court, she called for a public inquiry into the handling of the accusations against him. Later that year she called for him to be reinstated to the party from which he had resigned. In February 2021, she called for the government to release documents which Salmond claimed proved that Sturgeon had been part of a conspiracy against him. In March 2021, when Salmond formed the Alba Party, Cherry denied speculation she would be defecting to join him.

Before his 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". Following Salmond's death in October 2024, Cherry told the BBC that inappropriate sexual behaviour Salmond had admitted to was "very different from criminal behaviour", adding: "We’re all flawed individuals who do inappropriate things from time to time. He was acquitted of the criminal charges, and that’s a very significant matter."

Transgender rights

Cherry has 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. 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".

Cherry opposed reforms of the Gender Recognition Act in Scotland to allow transgender people to obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate on the basis of a statutory declaration, rather than requiring interview by a panel and medical reports. 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". She believe "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".

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". She has faced criticism from LGBT charities over her views nd statements thereof.

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". 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.

Foreign policy

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.

European Union

Cherry supported Remain during the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum and has supported an independent Scotland joining the European Union. 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.

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."

Personal life

Cherry lists her personal interests as travel, reading and swimming. She is a lesbian.

References

1. ^ Bircham, Josh; Costello, Grant (November 2015). "52. Joanna Cherry". We are the 56. Freight Books. ISBN 978-1910449516.
2. ^ "Cherry, Joanna Catherine, (born 18 March 1966), KC (Scot.) 2009; MP (SNP) Edinburgh South West, since 2015 | WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO". www.ukwhoswho.com. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u250752. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
3. "Analysis: SNP bucks trend for privately educated MPs". David Leask. 1 June 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
4. "Joanna Cherry QC becomes SNP justice spokesperson". Scottish Legal News. 14 May 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
5. ^ Carr, Tim (18 May 2015). The Politicos Guide to the New House of Commons 2015: Profiles of the New MPs and Analysis of the 2015 General Election Results. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 9781849549240.
6. "Twelve new Queen's Counsel appointed". The Journal. Law Society of Scotland. 14 September 2009. Archived from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
7. "Joanna Cherry QC joins AM Advocates | Arnot Manderson Advocates". amadvocates.co.uk. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
8. "Election 2015: the lawyers standing for Parliament – Lawyer 2B". l2b.thelawyer.com. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
9. ""Lawyers for Yes" sign independence declaration". The Journal. Law Society of Scotland. 23 June 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
10. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
11. Council, The City of Edinburgh. "UK Parliamentary election results 2015 | The City of Edinburgh Council". www.edinburgh.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
12. "Joanna Cherry QC becomes SNP justice spokesperson". Scottish Legal News. 14 May 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
13. "Row over Ruth Davidson comedy rap song slur". BBC News. 19 September 2016.
14. "SNP MP 'regrets' offence caused by homophobic slur at independence event". 19 September 2016.
15. "Election 2017: Apology for TV debate food bank nurse". BBC News. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
16. "Who you can vote for: UK Parliamentary General Election 8 June 2017 candidates". City of Edinburgh Council. Archived from the original on 14 May 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
17. "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 . Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
18. ^ "The sacked Scottish National Party MP at heart of its divisions". 3 February 2021.
19. "Joanna Cherry: '˜Palpable sense of fear' on Barcelona streets". 2 October 2017.
20. "Joint Committee on Human Rights membership at the end of Parliament 2017–19". UK Parliament. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
21. "Facebook and Twitter grilled over abuse faced by MPs". BBC News. 1 May 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
22. Ward, Sarah (6 May 2019). "SNP MP Joanna Cherry given police protection after online 'death threat'". Daily Record. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
23. Gourtsoyannis, Paris (8 May 2019). "David Mundell among 377 MPs to have expenses credit cards blocked". The Scotsman. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
24. Johnson, Simon (8 May 2019). "Four Scottish MPs repeatedly have official credit cards suspended for failing to pay back money". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
25. "SNP MP Joanna Cherry investigated after staff bullying complaints". The Times. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
26. "SNP MP Joanna Cherry says 'bully' claims may be part of smearing by her own party". The Scotsman. 13 May 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
27. Sim, Phillip (16 May 2019). "Are Joanna Cherry's claims of SNP 'infighting' true?". BBC News. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
28. Hannan, Martin (29 June 2019). "SNP MP Joanna Cherry cleared of former staffer's bullying claim". The National. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
29. "Supreme Court: Suspending Parliament was unlawful, judges rule". BBC News. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
30. Swanson, Ian (13 December 2019). "SNP's Joanna Cherry wins big majority in Edinburgh South West". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
31. "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
32. "Joanna Cherry will leave MP role if she wins Ruth Davidson's seat". BBC. 23 February 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
33. "SNP's Joanna Cherry rules out Holyrood bid after rule change". BBC. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
34. "Scottish government wants to exempt 'criticism of transgender identity' from proposed hate crime law". PinkNews. 27 January 2021.
35. "Joanna Cherry 'blocks' SNP colleague Kirsty Blackman on Twitter amid LGBT row". The Scotsman. 30 January 2021.
36. Ross, Jamie (8 February 2021). "Transphobia is Wrecking Scotland's Golden Opportunity for Independence". The Daily Beast.
37. "MP Joanna Cherry dropped in SNP frontbench reshuffle". BBC News. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
38. Learmouth, Andrew (1 February 2021). "SNP sack Joanna Cherry from Westminster frontbench team". The National. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
39. O'Tooole, Emer (4 February 2021). "Jacob Rees-Mogg praises Joanna Cherry's 'courage' after being sacked from front bench". The National. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
40. "MP Cherry's £2500 defamation claim 'could have chilling effect' on holding power to account". Sunday Herald. 21 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
41. "David Paisley publishes letter sent by Joanna Cherry's lawyers". Sunday Herald. 21 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
42. "Joanna Cherry 'taking time out' for health reasons". BBC News. 25 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
43. Joanna Cherry (10 May 2021). "I'm continuing a phased return to work this week after a period of ill health & looking forward to recommencing some public duties. A big thank you to my fantastic staff & to everyone who has supported me & sent good wishes" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
44. "Joanna Cherry resigns from SNP ruling body". BBC News. 1 June 2021.
45. Gordon, Tom (4 June 2021). "SNP MP Joanna Cherry lends support to feminist Marion Millar after 'hate crime' charge". The Herald. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
46. Summan, Kapil (24 June 2021). "Exclusive: Joanna Cherry QC to defend Marion Millar in limited return to the bar". Scottish Legal News. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
47. Brooks, Libby (28 October 2021). "Scottish prosecutors drop transphobia case against Marion Millar 28 October 2021". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
48. Wakefield, Lily (21 July 2022). "So-called 'gender critical' MP Joanna Cherry elected chair of human rights committee". pinknews.co.uk. PInkNews. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
49. Joanna Cherry (26 June 2023). "It was a privilege to be elected to replace Harriet while she was away doing such important work. I look forward to continuing to work on the JCHR. Integrity & universal #HumanRights should be at the heart of everything we do in a democracy" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
50. Clarence-Smith, Louisa (22 October 2022). "Unit aims to stop gender ideology 'compromising' women's rights". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 22 October 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
51. "Joanna Cherry: Why is SNP code of conduct not being enforced?". The National. 24 February 2023.
52. "Joanna Cherry: Peter Murrell must quit as SNP CEO". The National. 15 February 2023.
53. "Nicola Sturgeon's husband Peter Murrell quits as SNP chief executive in face of no confidence threat". Sky News. 18 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
54. Dewar, Caitlyn (2 May 2023). "Cherry says Fringe cancellation 'Stasi-like' amid call for support 3 May 2023". news.stv.tv. STV. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
55. "MP Joanna Cherry's Fringe show to go ahead after trans row". BBC. 12 May 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
56. "Joanna Cherry Fringe event manager disputes 'hostile staff' claim". The National. 14 August 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
57. Joanna Cherry (10 July 2023). "Today I'm not able to be at Westminster to represent my constituents. Instead I am in court again to give evidence in a criminal trial about frightening threats made against me. This is the real toxicity in our politics & it will take leadership to stop it" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
58. "Edinburgh woman cleared of posting 'threatening' tweet about Edinburgh MP Joanna Cherry". Edinburgh Evening News. 10 July 2023.
59. "How Scotland Voted in the 2024 UK General Election | Centre on Constitutional Change".
60. "HGE24: Shares and Swings are Fascinating Things". Ballot box Scotland. 7 July 2024. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
61. "Nicola Sturgeon 'owes the SNP an apology' following general election disaster". 7 July 2024.
62. Paton, Craig (14 July 2024). "Joanna Cherry rules out Holyrood run unless SNP 'faces up to' misogyny". The Scotsman. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
63. "Joanna Cherry: The two things we must do to on the route to independence". March 2020.
64. "Joanna Cherry says Scottish Government must not delay in building independence case". The National. 20 May 2021.
65. "Alyn Smith and Joanna Cherry clash over call for Holyrood to hold indyref2". The National. 29 November 2020.
66. Hjul, Jenny. "Jenny Hjul: Joanna Cherry's latest IndyRef calls prove Nicola Sturgeon's days are numbered". The Courier.
67. Johnson, Simon (26 January 2020). "Two SNP MPS heap pressure on Nicola Sturgeon to rethink opposition to 'wildcat' independence referendum". The Telegraph.
68. "Joanna Cherry-backed Plan B rejected for debate at SNP conference". The National. 17 November 2020.
69. "First Dáil could be template for Scottish independence, says MP". The Irish Times.
70. "Joanna Cherry hits back at Alyn Smith as SNP row over Plan B intensifies". 29 November 2020.
71. "SNP MP Joanna Cherry open to standing for party leadership and admits approaches from Labour". Daily Record. 22 August 2022.
72. @joannaccherry (27 August 2021). "I've set out my reasons for supporting the co-operation agreement in my @ScotNational column & my hope that it's lofty aspirations will be put into practice. Thread attached but there's more detail in the column & it's always good to #buyapaper" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
73. Glmour, Ruaraidh (10 August 2023). "Joanna Cherry says Bute House Agreement with 'totalitarian' Scottish Greens should be brought to an end". Holyrood Magazine. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
74. @joannaccherry (21 April 2024). "Good to hear Patrick Harvie getting a grilling on scrapped climate change targets & #Cass. With govt comes responsibility. I voted against the BHA & I don't think the Scottish Greens have brought anything useful to the table on tackling climate change" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
75. @joannaccherry (21 April 2024). "I've been reminded by a well wisher that I was eventually persuaded into supporting the vote for the BHA against my better judgment. Ah well we all make mistakes. My initial instincts were correct. And the points in this tweet all stand" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
76. Quinn, Andrew (20 October 2024). "Senior SNP MP says party members should get vote on coalition with the Greens". Daily Record. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
77. "Cherry and other Salmond supporters are waging civil war within SNP at precisely the wrong time – Laura Waddell". 4 February 2021.
78. "Joanna Cherry MP criticised by party members over apparent support for Salmond". 15 June 2020.
79. "Salmond vs Sturgeon – your complete guide to the 'whole sorry story'". Independent.co.uk. 26 March 2021. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022.
80. "Alex Salmond case stokes tensions for Scotland's nationalists". Politico. 24 March 2020.
81. "Joanna Cherry: Alex Salmond's place in SNP should be reinstated & 'not guilty' verdict respected". The Herald. 28 November 2020.
82. Nutt, Kathleen (26 February 2021). "Joanna Cherry demands Alex Salmond 'conspiracy' evidence release". The National.
83. O'Toole, Emer (26 March 2021). "Joanna Cherry confirms she will not be joining Alex Salmond's Alba Party". The National.
84. Rhodes, Mandy (15 October 2019). "With a cherry on top: Exclusive interview with Joanna Cherry". Holyrood. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
85. Grant, Alistair (13 October 2024). "Joanna Cherry: Alex Salmond was stabbed in the back by colleagues". The Scotsman.
86. "Robin Harper and Joanna Cherry condemn Sandyford children's gender services". The Times. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
87. "Sandyford gender clinic should close, say Joanna Cherry and Robin Harper". The National. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
88. McLaughlin, Marc (23 November 2019). "I will not suppress my views on gender, says Joanna Cherry, SNP hopeful". The Times. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
89. Rodger, Hannah (10 November 2019). "SNP Women's Pledge 'disingenuous'". The Herald. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
90. Brooks, Libby (14 October 2019). "Several women 'close to quitting SNP over gender recognition plans'". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
91. Horne, Marc (6 December 2019). "SNP members 'victims of LGBT campaign'". The Times. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
92. "MP Joanna Cherry describes 'campaign of abuse' over views". BBC News Online. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
93. Cherry, Joanna (4 June 2021). "Joanna Cherry: We must work to ensure equalities policies conform to the law". The National. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
94. Cherry, Joanna (4 June 2021). "Joanna Cherry: We must work to ensure equalities policies conform to the law". The National. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
95. Hopkins, Tim (7 June 2021). "Can Joanna Cherry please spell out her objection to Stonewall's advice?". The National. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
96. Wakefield, Lily (15 November 2021). "SNP MP Joanna Cherry suggests trans conversion therapy should be legal". PinkNews. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
97. Matchett, Conor. "SNP's LGBT and student wings call for leadership to remove whip from Joanna Cherry". The Scotsman. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
98. "Joanna Cherry: What the UK should do to help people from and in Afghanistan". The National. 19 August 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
99. "Joanna Cherry: 'Now we must make sure Boris Johnson's Brexit plans fail'". The Scotsman. 25 September 2019.
100. "Protesters call for Scotland to remain in the EU". BBC News. 21 September 2019.
101. "MP Joanna Cherry hopeful of 'revoke Article 50' motion support". BBC News. 31 March 2019.
102. Marlborough, Conor (30 July 2020). "Scottish Independence: Joanna Cherry MP tells SNP to abandon fighting Brexit". Edinburgh News.
103. Andrew Reynolds (13 May 2015). "The UK broke its own record for LGBT representation last week". New Statesman. Retrieved 25 July 2015.

External links

• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
• Joanna Cherry on Twitter
• Profile on SNP website
• Appearances on C-SPAN

• 1966 births
• Living people
• 21st-century Scottish women politicians
• 21st-century Scottish LGBTQ people
• Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
• Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies
• LGBTQ members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Scottish lesbian politicians
• Members of the Faculty of Advocates
• Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Edinburgh constituencies
• Politicians from Edinburgh
• Scottish National Party MPs
• Scottish King's Counsel
• UK MPs 2015–2017
• UK MPs 2017–2019
• UK MPs 2019–2024
• 20th-century Scottish lawyers
• 21st-century Scottish lawyers
• People educated at St Margaret's School, Edinburgh
• 20th-century Scottish women lawyers
• 21st-century Scottish women lawyers
• Lesbian feminists
• Scottish feminists
• 21st-century King's Counsel