Keeping the Dream Alive: An Insider's Account of a Tumultuous Decade in Scottish Politics

by Joanna Cherry

In 2015, the landscape of British politics was changed forever - Westminster was suddenly the new workplace for dozens of freshly elected SNP members. What followed was one of the most remarkable decades in British political history.

Joanna Cherry was part of this cohort, and in this explosive and revealing memoir she tells her own story of Scottish and British politics during this turbulent period .Covering everything from the party's rejection of its popular leader, Alex Salmond, to the scandals that engulfed his successor Nicola Sturgeon, Cherry also reflects on the opportunities that followed the 2015 landslide and offers remarkable insight into why the party failed to further the cause of independence despite a series of electoral victories.

As well as offering an astonishing insider's view of the culture of the SNP, Keeping the Dream Alive also looks to the future and offers a clear-eyed view of how political reform in Scotland and the revival of the independence cause could take place.

345 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 23, 2026

About the author

Joanna Catherine Cherry KC is a Scottish politician and lawyer serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Edinburgh South West since 2015. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she was the party's Shadow Home Secretary and Shadow Secretary of State for Justice in the House of Commons from 2015 to 2021.

Reviews

[Carole Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating insight into both the machinations of politics and the workings of the legal system.

[Ruth Lavery · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent expose of the corruption of the SNP and what Nicola and those who supported her would do to keep power.