SNP MP Joanna Cherry has hinted at a possible career move as she accused her own party of “abuse, threats, bullying and smears".
The Edinburgh South West politician made the comments during her acceptance speech after winning the "Best Scot at Westminster" award during the Holyrood Magazine event on Thursday.
She was dropped from the SNP frontbench by the party's Wesminster leader - and has previously voiced her disappointment at the party, claiming it did not show her more support over online abue.
In her speech, Ms Cherry QC said: “In 2014, when Alex Salmond asked me if I would consider running for the candidacy in Edinburgh South West, I found it quite hard to leave my old job and to be honest if I’d known the level of abuse, threats, bullying and smears I would have to face, particularly from my own side, I would never have done it.
“But do you know what? I have absolutely no regrets about doing it.
"Because when I was growing up, when I was a teenager, I always wanted to be a Labour MP...and it’s been the privilege of my life to be a member of parliament."
READ MORE: SNP MP Joanna Cherry joins Alba MPs in fight against Holyrood protest move
However, she suggested that her time in the Commons may be coming to an end.
She said: "I suspect I won’t be a member of parliament for much longer, but while I am I will still try to be an independent and thoughtful voice, and I will always fight for Scotland to be the kind of country, regardless of whether you are a unionist or a nationalist, where everyone, everyone, has equal rights, and everyone has free speech.”
Commenting on the claims of bullying, a Scottish Tory spokesman told the Daily Record: “This raises serious questions about how the SNP treats people, if they’re willing to abuse and threaten their own MP until she feels forced out.”
The SNP has been approached for comment.
And, according to the paper, senior SNP figures have speculated whether Ms Cherry may in future join Alex Salmond's Alba Party - however this is a claim she denied at the party's launch.
Yesterday, Ms Cherry joined two former colleagues who defected to Alba in a bid to stop a controversial change to the way protests are handled at Holyrood.
Joanna Cherry QC has backed a move by MPs Kenny MacAskill and Neale Hanvey to annul the Westminster order which will soon make demonstrators liable to prosecution.
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