THE Scottish feminist campaigner being defended against a hate crime charge by SNP MP Joanna Cherry has endorsed Alex Salmond’s Alba Party.

Marion Millar said she had voted for Alba on the Central Scotland list at the recent Scottish election “because they stand up for my rights as a woman”.

Ms Millar made the disclosure on Twitter last night during a discussion about suffragettes.

She said: “I was too intending to spoil my vote because not one party was willing to stand up for my rights, then @AlbaCentralScot came along and they got my vote because they stand up for my rights as a woman.”

Asked about her constituency vote, she replied: “I didn’t vote for the @theSNP that’s for sure”.

In response, Alba general secretary Chris McEleny said: "Alba are the only party in Scotland proposing a citizens assembly so that the rights of women get the attention they deserve in what has become an increasingly toxic political environment for women.

"You just need to look at the current ordeal Marion is being put through to see why a political party that stands up for women’s rights is needed.

"Thankfully Marion has @joannaccherry in her corner, for everyone else they need political change. Alba seek to bring that change."

Ms Millar, 50, is at the centre of a case that has already attracted international attention.

The Airdrie accountant has been accused of posting allegeldy homophobic and transphobic material on social media in 2019 and 2020, including a tweet showing a ribbon in the purple, white and green of the suffragette movement.

READ MORE: SNP MP Joanna Cherry to defend Scottish feminist Marion Millar charged with 'hate crime'

She is due to appear at Glasgow Sherifff Court on July 20, and could face two years in jail if convicted.

Ms Millar is a supporter of sex-based rights for women, and opposes easing transgender self-identification. Her critics claim she is a trans-exclusionary radical feminist, or Terf.

Last week, Ms Cherry QC announced she would return to practice at the bar on a limited basis to lead Ms Millar’s defence after accepting instructions from her lawyers, Beltrami & Co.

She said:  “I remain very committed to the law as an important instrument for upholding human rights and preventing discrimination and I am sure that there will be a synergy between the cases I take on and the values I have championed in elected politics, particularly respect for human rights, equality and the rule of law.”

Ms Cherry’s suspended her legal work after becoming the SNP MP for Edinburgh South West in 2015.

Mr Salmond, who launched Alba in March this year, was dogged by questions about hisa own conduct towards women throughout the election campaign.

He had been accused of inappropriate conduct by several women while in government, but cleared of sexual assault at a High Court trial in March 2020.

Alba made women’s rights akey part of its platform at the election, warning the SNP’s proposed reforms of the Gender Recognition Act would go too far.

It held a Women’s Conference before the election to “gender-proof” its policies, saying the meeting would be “an all-women safe space event.”

Alba won 1.7 per cent of the vote across Scotland and failed to get any MSPs elected.

READ MORE: Feminist campaigner charged with 'hate crime'

In Central Scotland, where the lead candidate was Mr Salmond’s business partner, the former SNP MP Tasmina Ahmed-Shiekh, it won 1.6% of the list vote.

It has said it will also stand for election in next year’s council elections.

Gender-critical feminists such as Ms Millar disagree with those LGBT activists who think gender identity should be prioritised over biological sex in government policy and the law.

The former fear the advance of transgender rights is at the expense of hard-won women’s rights, while the latter see the focus on biological sex as transphobic. 

The STUC last month said years of “dithering and delay” by the Scottish Government over gender recognition reforms had helped create a “toxic environment” over the issue.

SNP ministers are committed to simplifying the process by which a trans person can legally obtain gender recognition, but have yet to legislate on an issue they know divides their party.

Alba has tried to exploit the SNP split by saying it is a better champion of women's rights.