Joanna Cherry has lost her seat in Edinburgh South West to Labour's Scott Arthur.
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00:00Thank you very much. This is the first time I've had to make a losing speech on election night and I hope it won't be the last.
00:08Three times in a row the people of Edinburgh South West chose me to serve them and I'm very proud of that.
00:15But now they've chosen Scott and I'd like to congratulate Scott and his election agent Stephen and their campaign team.
00:23They've fought a good fight and they've earned this victory.
00:27I also want to thank the returning officer and his staff for all their hard work tonight.
00:32But most of all I want to thank my incredible campaign team which included not just SNP activists but also non-aligned feminist activists
00:44and people who want to see the issue of Scotland's constitutional future kept alive.
00:50I'm particularly indebted to my wonderful election agent Fraser Thompson, to my incredible campaign manager Andrew Ewan
01:04and to his fantastic deputy campaign manager Lisa Clark.
01:11I also want to thank the staff that have worked for me over the last few years and most particularly the staff who've worked for me in the recent years.
01:23Nobody could have been blessed with a more fantastic team and a team that was better led.
01:30Not led by me, led by Fraser Thompson.
01:33I also want to thank my family. I've had quite a lot of challenges in politics.
01:41I've had to put up with a torrent of abuse and intimidation and harassment including death threats and rape threats
01:49because that's what happens now if you're a lesbian feminist in politics who has the guts to speak up for women's rights.
01:56I could not have got through the last few years without the support of my beloved family and indeed my staff
02:10and some very dear friends and feminists and lesbians in the wider gender critical movement.
02:17But back to tonight. The story of tonight is of course the Labour landslide and it reflects massive dissatisfaction with the previous Conservative government.
02:27And sadly the Scottish National Party has been a casualty of that landslide.
02:32But to be honest there have been other factors which have made it less likely for people to vote SNP and that's made it hard for us.
02:42My defeat and the defeat of many other SNP candidates tonight mean that my party must now have the courage to address what has gone wrong in recent years.
02:53Otherwise the setback for the Scottish National Party will not be reversed and I shall have a lot more to say about that in the days and weeks to come.
03:03However this setback for the SNP should not be interpreted as a setback for the cause of Scottish independence.
03:11Opinion polls still show that half of voters in this country support independence and therefore the issue of our constitutional future is still very much alive and Labour would be foolish to ignore that.
03:28But to the victor this boils. Labour have promised change and now they must deliver on that promise.
03:36Mere rhetoric is not enough. As the suffragettes argued it is by your deeds and not by your words that you will be remembered.
03:47Labour's great lost leader John Smith said that all that he wanted was the chance to serve his country.
03:56That is a chance that I too would like but for now at UK level at least Labour has the chance to serve and I wish them well in doing that.
04:08But I hope they will not forget that Scotland is a different country and I hope they will also remember that women make up 51% of our population.
04:20The rights of women to dignity, privacy and safety should not be ignored or sidelined by any political leader and we should not be demonised for airing those rights.
04:35I'm going to take some time now to decide what I do next but whatever I decide to do I shall continue to contribute to the debate about Scotland's constitutional future.
04:46I will continue to stand up for the rule of law as I did against Boris Johnson when he unlawfully shut down our parliament.
04:54But most importantly I shall continue to stand up for universal human rights, for equality for all but most particularly for the rights of women and the rights of lesbians. Thank you.