New Times,
New Thinking.

  1. Politics
  2. Scotland
9 February 2021updated 08 Sep 2021 7:10am

Joanna Cherry’s Diary: Why I was sacked, coming out as gay in the Aids pandemic, and turmoil in the SNP

A small but vocal cohort of my SNP colleagues has engaged in performative histrionics redolent of the Salem witch trials.

By Joanna Cherry

I don’t imagine any politician much enjoys being sacked from the front bench but it pays to be forewarned, and fortunately I was. So when I took a terse call from my group leader a mere 30 minutes before he intended to announce his reshuffle it was not the nasty surprise that was presumably planned. 

The reasons for my sacking were not made clear but I was not surprised. For some time a small but vocal cohort of my SNP colleagues has engaged in performative histrionics redolent of the Salem witch trials. The question – do you believe or have you ever believed that women are adult human females? – is one I must answer in the affirmative, but it’s not a response that is popular with some who have the ear of the leadership.

Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month
Content from our partners
More than a landlord: A future of opportunity
Towards an NHS fit for the future
How drones can revolutionise UK public services