Joanna Cherry talks about her forthcoming memoir

Joanna Cherry, KC, has revealed she is working on a political memoir that will shed new light on the SNP from divisions within to the scandals that have “plagued” the party.

Speaking at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the former MP for Edinburgh South West she had been getting her life back since she left Westminster.

She said that aside from spending time with friends and family, practising again at the bar and becoming a trustee of charities close to her heart, she was also penning her memoir.

Speaking to broadcaster Iain Dale she said the book would contain information “not yet in the public domain”.

She said: “I’ve been having a really nice time. Getting my life back, spending more time with my family and my friends. Practising at the bar again…

“I’ve signed a book deal, not in the same league as Nicola Sturgeon – well, not in terms of the advance – but I’ve signed a book deal to write a political memoir, from the independence referendum up until the present date.

“I’m working on that at the moment and hoping to deliver it to the publisher in the autumn with a view to publication next year.

“I wanted to write a book about how it is that, notwithstanding the incredible rise in the SNP’s membership after the 2014 Referendum, and the series of phenomenal victories we’ve had at both Westminster and Holyrood elections, that the cause of independence has not been advanced and that the SNP membership has plummeted and that so many high profile figures like myself and Mhairi Black have become so disaffected with the party.

“I want to analyse what’s gone wrong because I think if we want to move forward from what I would describe as ‘the Sturgeon era’, we have to analyse what went wrong then.

“Why is it that the cause of independence wasn’t advanced? Why is it that we have so many policy failings across so many different areas?

“Why is it that the party and the independence movement have become very divided?

“And why is it that the party has been plagued by a number of scandals?

“I think these things need to be addressed, not for the purpose of getting revenge, but I have a lot of information that’s not yet in the public domain, and I feel like I can give perspective on other information that is in the public domain.

“For example, I am one of those who believes that there was a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice in relation to Alex Salmond and I have information, some of which I am not at liberty to publish for legal reasons. But I have other information that’s not yet in the public domain that will bolster the views of people like David Davis and Kenny Macaskill, who have already spoken about this.

“So that’s one example. Really the purpose of my book is to analyse what’s gone wrong in order that we might move forward.

“I think the problem for the SNP at the moment is there has been no reckoning or analysis of what’s gone wrong.”

She added: “The party is very stale, it’s been in power for too long – it’s not healthy for one party to be in power for 18 years.

“I think if the party wants to move forward, it has to analyse what’s gone wrong.

“If the SNP wants to be able to recapture the support of the 50% of this country that supports Scottish independence, then it has a lot of work to do. And I hope that my book can make a contribution to that work.”

Cherry, whose Fringe appearance attracted a supportive audience of over 200 people, said while she was no longer an SNP politician, she had kept her membership of the party because she hoped “it is capable of reform”.

She said the SNP had “a mountain to climb to persuade me to vote for them” however.

She added that she had tried while she was a parliamentarian “to try and reform the party from inside” but was “thwarted at every attempt to do so”.

Sturgeon

Ms Cherry also hit out at Nicola Sturgeon for missing opportunities.

She said: “We missed an incredible opportunity handed on a plate to Nicola Sturgeon during the Brexit years and the Boris Johnson years. A more skilled politician like Alex (Salmond) would have taken advantage of those.

“She didn’t, and not only did she not, she deliberately marginalised and shot down anyone who came forward with any ideas.

“Politics is about more than winning elections. Yes, Nicola is a great orator and she is a good campaigner and she’s won many elections. But what is there to show for it?

“What is there to show for all those years of elections at Westminster and Holyrood?

“I can think of maybe one policy that stands out for me as a good thing, which is the child benefit payment to try and raise more children in our country out of poverty. But there are so many other things that have been very badly handled and huge opportunities were missed.

“So winning elections is not enough, it’s what you do with the power you get when you win.

“In the same way, making a speech about something you’re going to do it’s not the same as actually doing it and delivering.

“Nicola promised in 2017 that she was going to set up a national energy company. We still don’t have one. The reason given for us not being able to have one is that we don’t allegedly have the power.  The Welsh parliament that has less powers than the Scottish parliament has set one up.

“I want to have a company that means that people living in poverty in one of the most energy rich nations in the world don’t have to pay ridiculous prices for their energy. That’s what was promised by Nicola in 2017 and that’s what hasn’t been delivered.

“So there’s a big example of something that can really transform lives in Scotland. There just hasn’t been the will or the ability to deliver on big performative announcements.”

Cherry also said Kate Forbes standing down at the next election was “a bit of a disaster for the SNP”.

She added: “I think the worst thing about Kate leaving politics is, British politics and Scottish politics, particularly the SNP, needs more people of integrity and I think she’s a person of integrity.”