Harry Potter author JK Rowling aimed a dig at former Perthshire SNP MP John Nicolson after his general election defeat.
Mr Nicolson – who represented the old Ochil and South Perthshire constituency before boundary changes – lost out to Labour rival Brian Leishman in Alloa and Grangemouth.
The result reflected a seismic shift in the Scottish and UK political landscape overnight, with Ms Rowling quick to troll the 63-year-old broadcast journalist on X.
She posted a picture of Mr Nicolson alongside a quote attributed to him in September 2022: “You are a lesbian because you declare yourself one.”
The remarks came at a tribunal in which transgender charity Mermaids failed to get the LGB Alliance removed from the charity register.
Gender recognition controversy
On Friday morning, Rowling wrote: “Now try declaring yourself a winner, John.”
The writer – worth an estimated £820 million – was a critic of the SNP’s gender recognition reform bill, passed in December 2022 and later blocked by the UK Government.
The reforms aimed to make it easier for a trans person to legally change their gender.
Ms Rowling previously branded former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon a “destroyer of women’s rights” over the bill.
During the SNP leadership race after Ms Sturgeon’s resignation, she called out Humza Yousaf after he tweeted about defending women’s rights and criticised his promises in the debate around trans prisoners.
