Joanna Cherry QC has been both vocal and high profile during Brexit so far. She has been at the forefront of several court actions in the Court of Session and the Supreme Court in London, trying every way possible to stop it from happening.
Ms Cherry improved her majority in 2019 and was returned with a margin of 11,982 votes.
The votes cast in Edinburgh South West were as follows :
David Ballantine Brexit Party 625 votes
Mev Brown Social Democratic Party Scotland 114 votes
Joanna Cherry SNP 24,830 votes
Sophie Cooke Scottish Labour Party 7,478 votes
Tom Inglis Scottish Liberal Democrats 4,971
Callum Laidlaw Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party 12,848 votes
Ben Parker Scottish Green Party 1,265 votes
The turnout here was 71% which is marginally up on 2017.
Here is what Ms Cherry said in her acceptance speech at Ingliston last night. She said : “Thank you Presiding Officer I would like to start by thanking you and your staff who’ve worked so hard throughout the day and tonight. And I’d also like to thank the police for whose assistance I have been particulary grateful for during this campaign.
“I’ve had an outstanding campaign team I cannot thank them enough. There’s too many of them to name. But I particularly want to thank my election agent Fraser Thompson, and my campaign manager Sarah Thompson.
“Never before has the Scottish National Party in Edinburgh South West had so many volunteers, or knocked so many doors, and I’m truly humbled by the trust that my team has put in me.
“But most of all, I want to thank the people of Edinburgh South West and this resounding mandate for who I am and what I stand for. I want to thank the other candidates for the respectful the way in which this contest has been conducted.
“Democracy and in particular free speech, are values which we should all cherish, and I know that my fellow candidates share my cherishing of free speech and democracy.
“In Scotland tonight constituency after constituency has rejected Boris Johnson’s Tory party, and they rejected their message to get Brexit done, and they have rejected their message of no to indyref2. Instead they put their trust in the Scottish National Party to defend people living in Scotland for the disastrous social and economic consequences of Brexit.
“The biggest cheers that any of us received at the hustings during this campaign is when we called out Boris Johnson for what he is : A stranger to the truth. An avoider of scrutiny and a huckster who would sell our NHS to the highest bidder.
“I’m very, very proud that people living in Scotland have rejected the politics of Trump and the politics of Boris Johnson and I’m very proud that people in Scotland will continue to embrace immigrants and continue to desire to be a part of Europe where we belong.
“Sadly, I really mean this sadly for my English friends and particularly for my English comrades Sadly, it seems that the result south of the border is rather different. And what this means is that Scotland now has to decide whether it’s time for us to embark on a different journey from the rest of the United Kingdom.
“In the last Parliament I did my best and was at the forefront of the fight to defend British democracy from Boris Johnson. Now it’s time for me to switch my energies to defend Scottish democracy from Boris Johnson. And please rest assured that but I will do that and nothing and nobody will deter me from doing that. So my message to Westminster is this : Scotland didn’t vote for Boris Johnson. Scotland didn’t vote for Brexit.
“It’s time for Scotland to choose its own future. is the time for a second independence referendum.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
