Ms Cherry said she felt ‘hugely vindicated’

Nicola Sturgeon has been told she owes women an apology after the Supreme Court unanimously backed the biological definition of “woman” under the Equality Act.

Joanna Cherry KC, a former SNP MP who lost her seat in last year’s general election, said she felt “hugely vindicated” by the ruling, which was issued on Wednesday morning.

Campaign group For Women Scotland (FWS) brought a series of challenges – including to the UK’s highest court – over the definition of “woman” in Scottish legislation dating from 2018 mandating 50 per cent female representation on public boards.

The row centred on whether trans women should be regarded as female for the purposes of the 2010 Equality Act, as argued by SNP ministers. Judges unanimously sided with FWS, who argued for the biological definition.

Speaking outside the court, Ms Cherry said: “Now it’s over to the politicians to make sure that the law is obeyed.

“I’m calling on my former colleague, John Swinney, the First Minister of Scotland, and on the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, to respect this judgment and to do what they say that they do.

“They both say they believe in women’s rights and they believe in women’s rights to single-sex spaces. If they mean that then they need to make sure that public policy changes to respect the fact that women means biological women and lesbian means women who are sexually attracted to women. Men are not included within those categories.”

Campaigners for For Women Scotland, including former SNP MP Jo Cherry (second from left), celebrate outside the Supreme Court in London. Picture: Lucy North/PA Wire | PA

Ms Cherry said there would “have to be a sea change” across the public sector to recognise the law had been clarified in the ruling.

Reflecting on her own experience, she said: “I’m a long-term feminist. I’m a lesbian who came out in the ’80s and campaigned against Section 28.

“I’ve had to put up with my own party leader, Nicola Sturgeon, calling me a bigot and a transphobe for sticking up for the rights of women and lesbians. I think she owes all of us, not just me, and more importantly the women of Scotland, an apology.”

Ms Cherry has long been an outspoken critic of Ms Sturgeon’s stance on trans issues and the policy of self-identification.

Joanna Cherry: Nicola Sturgeon owes woman an apology following Supreme Court ruling

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