SNP's Joanna Cherry loses Edinburgh seat amid Labour landslide

JOANNA Cherry has lost her seat amid a Labour landslide sweeping the SNP away across the central belt.

The long-standing SNP MP held Edinburgh South West for the party from 2015 but was ousted on Friday morning by Labour’s Scott Arthur.

The top lawyer and women’s rights activist is a controversial figure even within her own party because of her views on transgender self-identification – but was predicted by some opinion polls to keep her seat.

(Image: NQ)

But Arthur trounced her with 18,663 votes to 12,446.

Cherry played a high-profile role in the SNP group at Westminster and led the charge against Boris Johnson’s unlawful prorogation of Parliament as part of the party’s anti-Brexit crusade.

READ MORE: Stephen Flynn says SNP 'must listen' as he holds on to seat amid heavy losses

She was criticised by opponents and won fans within and outwith the SNP over her stances on sex and gender.

Speaking after losing her seat, Cherry said: "This is the first time that I've had to make a losing speech on an election night and I hope it will be the last.

"The story of tonight is of course the Labour landslide, and it reflects massive dissatisfaction with the previous Conservative government.

"Sadly, the Scottish National Party has been a casualty of that landslide.

"But, to be honest, there have been other factors which have made it less likely for people to vote SNP, and that's made it hard for us.

READ MORE: Douglas Ross loses seat to SNP in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East

"The defeat of many SNP candidates tonight means that my party must now have the courage to address what has gone wrong in recent years, otherwise this setback for the Scottish National Party will not be reversed.

"I will have a lot more to say about that in the days and weeks to come.

"However, this setback for the SNP should not be interpreted as a setback for the cause of Scottish independence.

"The issue of our constitutional question is still very much alive, and Labour would be foolish to ignore that.

"Labour have promised change, and now they must deliver on that promise."