How SNP’s Joanna Cherry is putting ambition ahead of voters who just elected her – Ian Murray MP

It’s a fantastic privilege to be elected by the public to represent the area that I’ve always called home.

There’s no doubt that it’s hard work, but the job satisfaction is high. Being able to help local people, organisations and groups has always been my priority and will remain so.

A winter general election meant knocking on 22,000 doors in Edinburgh South in the freezing cold, rain and darkness. I still loved every minute of it.

Having conversations on the doorstep, listening to voters, dealing with their concerns, debating and discussing the big issues of the day, and giving your pitch to gain their support is a key part of our democratic processes.

And when the council’s Returning Officer announces that you have won in the early hours of the morning after the election, it is vindication of all the hard work, especially for the wonderful teams of local volunteers who give up their time for the cause.

So I find it galling that a mere matter of weeks since the election, one Edinburgh MP has decided to do a chicken run to another seat in order to get into the Scottish Parliament. Or, as is patently obvious despite protestations to the contrary, to challenge the First Minister for her job.

Joanna Cherry is my constituency neighbour and I’m sure her experience of the General Election was the same as mine. She would have made countless promises to constituents to work hard on their behalf and not let them down. Well, she’s now letting them down.

If she wins the Edinburgh Central SNP selection contest she will turn her back on her constituents who elected her just weeks ago. She will put all her energies into winning her new Scottish Parliamentary seat. She will no doubt promise to be loyal, stand up for them, and not let them down as well.

It just gives all politicians a bad name. It is impossible to do both jobs. There are just too many things to do locally, not to mention the cost to the taxpayer. My colleague Daniel Johnson MSP has uncovered the potential cost of a by-election in Edinburgh South West. A cool £250,000. That is an awful lot of money for taxpayers to shell out for an individual politician’s leadership ambitions. Given the devastating cuts the SNP Government has just imposed again on Edinburgh Council surely that money would be better spent on services for local people.

Then there is this remarkable sense of entitlement from both potential candidates in Edinburgh Central. Joanna Cherry and Angus Robertson look as though they will slog it out for the SNP nomination. Their rhetoric so far is that they expect to win the seat at the Scottish election next year. It’s worth pointing out that Edinburgh Central is a key swing seat. It was a Labour seat with the Lib Dems a close second, before the SNP won it for the first time in 2011. After that it became Conservative with Ruth Davidson. It is taking the voters for granted to think that this will just be an SNP seat, especially given the growing anger in Edinburgh and across Scotland with the nationalists’ catastrophic failings in office.

My constituents are my boss. They always have been and always will be. Imagine what would happen if you told your boss after just a few weeks of getting the job that you are going to go and work for someone else but will keep the job open in the event it doesn’t work out. Your boss would rightly be furious, and the voters of Edinburgh South West should be equally as furious. They are stuck in the melodrama of the SNP’s in-fighting, and they deserve better.

Ian Murray is the Labour MP for Edinburgh South