JOANNA Cherry has fuelled speculation about Nicola Sturgeon’s future, saying the SNP is “overdue” a leadership election and one would be “healthy” when the First Minister quits.

The SNP MP also said she would like to be First Minister of an independent Scotland herself, although she did not see herself becoming leader in the short-term.

She said: “When Nicola stands down it would be healthy for the SNP to have a leadership election. We've not had one since 2004. We’re kind of overdue one.” 

The party’s former justice spokesperson also told an Edinburgh Fringe audience of the deep hurt she felt after being bullied by SNP colleagues for her gender critical beliefs.

She is opposed to Scottish Government plans to let people self-identify as the opposite sex for most legal purposes without any "gatekeeping", fearing this could put women at risk.

Denying she was transphobic, Ms Cherry said a small but vociferous group in the party wanted to bully her out and the party leadership were “afraid” to stand up for her.

Talking about her sacking from the SNP frontbench last year, the QC said: “What I found most upsetting about it was the unfairness of my treatment.

“Other colleagues had openly disagreed with party policy and not been demoted. That was upsetting. Also the fact that there was no acknowledgement of any of the work I’d done over the few years. It was like I had been… cancelled, just erased from SNP history.”

The Edinburgh South West MP made the comments while speaking to comedian Matt Forde for The Political Party podcast at the Gilded Balloon Teviot.

Speculation about Ms Sturgeon’s future has increased in recent weeks with the First Minister taking an uncharacteristic gamble over an independence referendum.

She has said that if the Supreme Court rules Holyrood cannot hold Indyref2 under its  own powers, she will fight the next general election as a de facto referendum on the issue.

Even if most votes cast in the election were for pro-independence parties, she would have no way of making the UK government recognise the result as the end of the Union.

It has been seen as Ms Sturgeon’s last throw of the dice as she approaches a decade in power by the time of the election.

Ms Sturgeon also told an Edinburgh Fringe event earlier this month that she had yet to decide whether she would lead the SNP into the 2026 Holyrood election, saying she would make a judgment on whether she was still the best person to do it “nearer the time”.

Asked about her own ambitions and whether she would like to swap Westminster for Holyrood, Ms Cherry said today:  “I would love to be in the Scottish Parliament. I would love to be in an independent Scottish Parliament. I would love to be a minister in government effecting change. I would love to do that.”

She added: “I'm very interested in being in the Scottish Parliament. I'm very interested in having executive power, being part of a Scottish Government. 

“I don't see it’s something that's going to happen in the short term for me, but I'd like to think it might happen long-term.”

Asked about one day leading the Scottish Government, Ms Cherry said: “Well, I know people are speculating about what will happen when Nicola Sturgeon stands down.

“I don’t know when she’ll stand down. I think that's a matter for Nicola to decide. 

“But I think when Nicola stands down it would be healthy for the SNP to have a leadership election. We've not had one since 2004. We’re kind of overdue one. 

“And that election should not be about personalities. It should be about ideas and policy and strategy. And I think that would be a very healthy exercise for my party. 

“Clearly, the person who takes over from Nicola will have to be a member of the Scottish Parliament, because the SNP leader has to be capable of being First Minister. 

“Clearly, that's not me. So I'm not a candidate for the SNP leadership in the short term. 

“I wouldn’t rule myself out in the long term. Why would I? Why would I have left my career [in the law] and gone into politics unless I was ambitious to achieve change?

“And the way you achieve change is being in government and possibly leading the government. 

“I don’t think you expect a man like Ian Blackford to rule it out, so why would you expect women like me to rule it out? So I'm not ruling it. It’s something I would consider in the long term, but I don't think it's something that I can really see as happening in the short term.”

Ms Cherry also said she had been approached by people in the Labour and Alba parties about defecting, but was determined to stay in the SNP.

The SNP's last leadership contest was in 2004, when Alex Salmond and Ms Sturgeon stood on a joint ticket and crushed their opponents.

After Mr Salmond stood down following the No vote of 2014, Ms Sturgeon succeeded him unopposed.