Joanna Cherry: Nicola Sturgeon put a ‘target on my back’ on trans issue

The SNP’s Joanna Cherry does not appear too worried about the possibility that she could be swept out of her Edinburgh South West seat by a wave of support for Labour.

One of her party’s highest-profile figures at Westminster, Ms Cherry is “cautiously optimistic” that strong personal support in the constituency will help her ride out any wider sea-change in Scotland.

She is “delighted” to have the endorsement of JK Rowling, a traditional Labour supporter, who is backing Ms Cherry over her defiant opposition to the SNP’s attempt to introduce a gender self-identification law in Scotland.

In a wide-ranging interview with i, Ms Cherry spoke out on the “unpleasant” time she endured within her own party – criticising former SNP boss Nicola Sturgeon for putting a “target on my back” when it comes to the gender identity issue.

“When I’m out and about, out for a coffee or at a supermarket, I’m regularly stopped by strangers to thank for me my stand,” she says. “I think it’s going to help me save my seat. It comes up on the doorsteps, and comes up favourably for me.

“For every email I get saying, ‘I won’t vote for you because you’re a transphobe’, I get 100 emails saying, ‘Thank you for your stance on women’s rights.’”

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The Scottish Government, led by Ms Sturgeon at the time, saw legislation aimed at making it easier for transgender people to change their legal gender blocked by the UK Government in January 2023.

Without naming Ms Cherry in particular, Ms Sturgeon said in 2023 that some opponents of gender recognition reform had used women’s rights as a “cloak of acceptability” for transphobia.

“I think most people who are paying attention realise I’m not a transphobe,” says Ms Cherry. “I’m just somebody who is concerned that if we have self-identification, women’s rights to dignity, and safety and privacy may be threatened.”

Ms Cherry previously described herself as “a lesbian, who holds gender-critical views that somebody’s sex is immutable” but that she has “never said that trans people should not have equal rights”.

She has also previously spoken of her disappointment that the SNP hierarchy under Ms Sturgeon did not offer strong enough condemnation of violent threats made against her.

“Nobody calls me transphobe to my face – except for some slightly nutty person who shouted at me in the street the other week,” she says on the ongoing, mainly online hostility.

“I wouldn’t wish to underplay it. I’ve received a lot of online abuse. I’ve received death threats, I’ve received rape threats.”

The 58-year-old KC criticises Ms Sturgeon for devoting “so much time and energy” to the culture war battle, arguing that she “capitulated 100 per cent to the groups who want self-ID”.

Ms Cherry adds: “The problem is, having branded anyone who disagreed with her a transphobe – Nicola Sturgeon did that to me, she put a target on my back – she puts her successors in the situation that if they tried to move away from her position they’ll be called a transphobe. So I understand the difficulty in which people find themselves.”

Joanna Cherry campaigning with Nicola Sturgeon in 2019 (Photo: Getty)

SNP leader John Swinney appeared to acknowledge the legislation has no future after taking over from Humza Yousaf, telling Sky News in May that “we can’t take [it] forward”.

However, Mr Swinney has also suggested he could try to work with a prospective Labour administration at Westminster in a bid to lift the veto, telling the BBC this week: “I certainly will take that issue forward with the United Kingdom Government.”

Ms Cherry concedes she is “not sure what John’s thinking is on it”. But she is optimistic that the SNP can make a fresh start under Mr Swinney, and praises the party’s current Westminster leader Stephen Flynn for allowing a wider range of views than his predecessor.

“I had a very unpleasant time when Ian Blackford was leader of the Westminster group. But since Stephen Flynn has been leader, Stephen agrees with me that I have a conscience vote on these matters.”

Criticising Ms Sturgeon for creating a “mantra of no debate” during her time in charge, Ms Cherry adds: “I trust John [Swinney] at his word that he’s going to restore the tradition of respectful debate.”

Ms Cherry says she does not want to be viewed as a “one trick pony” – arguing that voters in Edinburgh South West are also aware of her “high-profile” role in the legal fight against Boris Johnson’s prorogation of parliament as he tried to block opposition to his Brexit deal.

Sitting on a majority of more than 11,000, Ms Cherry believes her main challenger this time is Labour councillor Scott Arthur.

Labour came third here, behind the Conservatives, in 2019. But pollsters expect Sir Keir Starmer’s party to push the SNP out of a great swathe of Scotland’s urban Central Belt this time around.

Indeed, Labour has earmarked Edinburgh South West as a potential “Michael Portillo moment”, the 1997 defeat of major political figure which become symbolic of the wider Labour landslide.

“I’m not sensing any surge towards Labour on the doorsteps,” says Ms Cherry.

“I’m not complacent. I think there is a degree of disillusionment with the SNP,” she says, before adding: “I’m running a campaign based very much on my personal record.”

Ms Cherry says: “What I’m saying to my constituents is, ‘Do you want another backbench Labour MP who will just be lobby fodder for Keir Starmer? Or do you want someone with a proven track record of speaking up for constituents, speaking up for Scotland, doing their own thing and not necessarily toeing the party line?”

The Westminster veteran has not exactly toed the party line when it comes to the SNP’s strategy on Scottish independence.

Ms Cherry, a staunch independence supporter, previously criticised Ms Sturgeon for going “cap in hand” to the UK Supreme Court in 2022 in a bid to hold a second referendum on separation.

The move saw judges agree with the UK Government that the Scottish Government did not have the powers to hold another ballot, leaving the independence movement stuck in its current impasse.

“Nicola Sturgeon got people very focused on process, and marching people up and down the hill on a promised second referendum, rather than addressing the issues of why we lost the first one,” Ms Cherry says.

She thinks under Mr Swinney’s leadership there is a chance to build fresh momentum by reaching out to undecided voters and people who voted “No” in 2014 referendum – especially if a prospective Labour Government were to struggle for popularity in the immediate years ahead.

“You could have buyers’ remorse from people who voted Labour but don’t see any real change, and see Scotland being overlooked,” she says.

“Constitutional reform is not anywhere on his [Starmer’s] agenda, never mind near the top of his agenda. It’s one reason I think SNP candidates might do better than people think. Even if we don’t have a good election, the [independence] issue isn’t going away.”

A SNP spokesperson: “The First Minister believes in respectful debate – he is ensuring that within the SNP and is intent on ensuring it is in place across dialogue across Scotland.”

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