Edinburgh MP Joanna Cherry under fire amid claims by-election could cost nearly £250,000

Joanna Cherry hopes to become SNP candidate for Edinburgh Central in the 2021 Holyrood elections

CITY MP Joanna Cherry has been accused of political self-indulgence at taxpayers’ expense by announcing she wants to quit Westminster for Holyrood amid claims the resulting by-election could cost nearly £250,000.

Edinburgh Southern Labour MSP Daniel Johnson said: “Some people place a high value on their own ambition.”

Ms Cherry, who was re-elected as SNP MP for Edinburgh South West in December, has said she will seek the nomination to fight Edinburgh Central at next year’s Scottish Parliament election, a seat where former SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson is also bidding to become the candidate.

Both have been mentioned as potential future leaders of the party. The contest is being seen as a battle over the future of the SNP, with Mr Robertson a key supporter of Nicola Sturgeon and her strategy and Ms Cherry a leading advocate of a bolder policy on staging a second independence referendum.

Ms Cherry’s backers previously argued she could serve as both an MP and an MSP, pointing out the constituencies overlap and she was already involved in casework related to devolved issues.

But at the weekend she tweeted: “If I win the nomination & election to Holyrood I would stand down as an MP to focus on Scotland.”

Mr Johnson said he had obtained figures from the city council showing the cost of the general election in Edinburgh South West, paid by the UK Government, was £235,646.

He said: “This is complete self-indulgence. With a price tag that could be up to a quarter of a million pounds, it would seem that some people place a high value on their own ambition.

“Ms Cherry was only re-elected eight weeks ago to represent her constituents, yet she is now asking them to foot the bill so she can switch parliaments. At a time when council budgets are being cut and the police can’t afford to fix police station roofs I think many would question her motivation and priorities.”

Ms Cherry said if she were to be elected as Edinburgh Central MSP she would stand down as an MP at a time convenient to the voters, for example so the by-election could coincide with the 2022 council elections, thus reducing costs.

She said: “This May should be the first time we are going to the polls for Westminster since 2015, but thanks to the Tories we’ve had three general elections in five years. The costs of Westminster elections are borne by Westminster, not Edinburgh. It is clear that before the next Westminster election we will have a referendum on Scottish independence. I have worked very hard for the last five years and I want to work where I can be of most use in a new Scotland and that is our Scottish Parliament.”