The Nationalists claimed taking such a job on top of her Scottish Parliament responsibilities was proof "the Tories are in it for themselves".

Ms Davidson resigned as leader of the party in Scotland last August and later revealed she would not stand again as an MSP at the next Holyrood elections in 2021.

But a Scottish Conservatives spokesman today insisted she remained "fully committed" to her constituents in the Edinburgh Central seat she won in 2016.

Ruth Davidson resigned as leader of the Scottish Conservatives last year

Ruth Davidson nominated by Boris for seat in House of Lords

“It’s really flattering to be considered actually. The job that the House of Lords does is to scrutinise and revise legislation that’s already been drafted in the House of Commons so they need people that have legislative experience."

Responding to those comments, SNP MSP Rona Mackay said: “It’s no surprise that the Tories are in it for themselves. What’s shocking is that Ruth Davidson doesn’t even pay lip service to the constituents she’s supposed to answer to.

“Accepting a seat in the old-fashioned House of Lords – and being handed a fat salary without any democratic accountability – would show just how shameless Ruth Davidson is.

“The House of Lords has no place in a modern democracy and erodes public trust in our politics – allowing the Westminster parties to reward selfish donors, cronies and politicians rejected by the voters.

“If Ruth Davidson isn’t willing to focus on representing her constituents, she should do the decent thing and stand down as an MSP so the people of Edinburgh Central can pick a representative who will."

A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: “Ruth is fully committed to being an MSP – the SNP should spend more time worrying about the conduct of their own politicians.”

SNP brand Ruth Davidson 'shameless' over peerage speculation