RUTH Davidson has insisted she still doesn’t know if she is in line for a peerage, but has signalled she is ready to accept a new role in the Lords.

Boris Johnson was last week reported to have nominated the former Scottish Tory leader for the upper house despite their personal differences.

Ms Davidson nominated three of Mr Johnson’s rivals for the UK Tory leadership last year, then quit as head of her own party citing “conflict” over Brexit.

The SNP has called on Ms Davidson to quit as MSP for Edinburgh Central if she does go to the Lords, saying she must not be a “part-timer who continues to pocket an MSP’s salary.”

Speaking to DC Thomson’s Stooshie podcast, Ms Davidson said she didn’t know if the peerage rumour was true.

She said: “I think the way that it works is - you don’t get told until you’re told. I’ve not been told, so I don’t know.”

However she made no secret of her readiness to take on the new role.

She said: “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.

“It’s important that people from different legislatures bring their experiences to bear on it.

“So like I say I don’t actually know, but the work that it does is quite important to make sure that the Bills that go out are spit-spot and Bristol fashion.”

Asked if she would accept a peerage, she said: “I think there are pretty frew people that turn them down. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m going to be leaving Holyrood in March of next year.

“I’m not coming back. I think I’ve got more to give to politics. “If this is offered I would have to give it serious consideration.”

She downplayed suggestions she could land a role in the Scotland Office, where Lord Duncan of Springbank was recently a minister.

She said her plan after leaving Holyrood at the 2021 election was to do several small roles rather than one large one until her toddler son Finn - and any other children she had with partner Jen Wilson - were at school.

“I’m not looking for another big job. As somebody who was a big Remainer, I’m pretty conflicted about Brexit.

“The election means that we know what course the country is on now.

“In terms of do I want to sit in a ministerial office in London and leave my son? I don’t, no.”

Ms Davidson's predecessor as Scottish Tory leader, Annabel Goldie, became a peer after she left the role in 2011.

SNP MSP George Adam said: "If this speculation is accurate then Ruth Davidson needs to stand down from the Scottish Parliament and allow the people of Edinburgh Central to be represented by someone who treats it as a serious, full-time job, instead of by a part-timer who continues to pocket an MSP’s salary.

“Ruth Davidson has never shown a shred of political principle, going from the darling of the Remainers to a born-again Brexiteer without missing a beat.

"Her botched bid to accept money from a lobbying firm while sitting as an MSP shows that she is not remotely serious about representing her constituents.

"With this reported peerage, Ruth Davidson is now set to be rewarded for failure – being handed a fat salary and a permanent place in parliament without having to answer to constituents.

“She should do the decent thing and stand down now as an MSP.”

