SNP MP Joanna Cherry expresses pleasure at being cleared of bullying allegations

One of Scotland's leading politicians has expressed her pleasure at reportedly being cleared of allegations of bullying.

Ms Cherry took to Twitter to express her pleasure at the allegations being dropped. Picture: Contributed

Joanna Cherry, QC, the SNP MP for Edinburgh South West, confirmed on Saturday morning that the allegations of professional misconduct against her, which included bullying and condoning bullying, had been dropped.

It was reported in May that Ms Cherry was being investigated by Commons authorities after complaints were lodged.

Writing on Twitter, the MP commented: "Pleased to advise that I’ve been exonerated after an independent investigation into complaints that I had either condoned or been engaged in bullying within my constituency office. As I predicted, the allegations have not been upheld."

Ms Cherry subsequently maintained that allegations she had bullied a staff member were part of a “smear campaign” against her.

An anonymous SNP source said at the time that Ms Cherry was “absolutely right when she says the smear came from within the party”, and added: “She is seen as a rival to both Nicola and Ian [Blackford] and there is a lobby within the party to discredit her. There are a number of narratives at play. With the GRA debate there’s a nasty lobby involved and this bullying complaint is likely a part of that – after all there is another MP also accused of bullying but in that case there will be an industrial tribunal to find out the truth. In Joanna’s case there’s no substantive case, so it does look like a smear.”