JOANNA Cherry has said she wants to be able to stand for a seat in Holyrood.
During an appearance at the Fringe – which was previously subject to controversy after organisers attempted to cancel Cherry’s appearance due to staff refusing to work the event – the SNP MP said she did not want to spend the rest of her political career in opposition.
Her previous attempt to stand in a Holyrood election was thwarted by party rules which only allow MPs to run if they resign from their seat at Westminster.
“I don’t want to be in opposition for the rest of my life,” she said.
“I would really like to be in government and that’s why I would like to be able to stand for Holyrood.
“I also think I would be of benefit to the SNP and other parties at Holyrood.
“The party’s under different management now and clearly we’re having a huge review of transparency and governance and I hope the sense of encouraging some of us who have got Westminster experience to think about coming to Holyrood will come to the fore during that period.”
It comes after the SNP’s leader at Westminster, Stephen Flynn, said “almost all SNP MPs would prefer to be elected to Holyrood and not to Westminster.”
When asked by journalist Graham Spiers, who conducted the 70-minute interview, whether she supported a renegotiation of the Bute House Agreement with the Scottish Greens, Cherry said there “is a feeling the tail is wagging the dog in Holyrood” and said members should be consulted on whether to end the agreement or make it better.
However, following the event she balked at a headline from the Daily Record which suggested she wanted the deal to be “ripped up”.
“This is a very misleading headline I did not say the deal should be ripped up,” she tweeted.
“My comments were far more measured and nuanced than this as the body of the article reflects.
“I hope the Daily Record will correct the sub editors misleading headline.”
