FORMER Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson attended the Lords for around a quarter of the days when it was sitting over six months, new figures show.
The former MSP, who took her seat in the chamber last year after being nominated for a peerage by Boris Johnson, attended for 21 out of a possible 82 days between September 2021 and February 2022, the latest data available.
The figures have been revealed in an analysis carried out by The National, which revealed Scottish peers attended the House of Lords around 50% of the time on average over the past six months.
Tory donor and Scotland Office minister Malcolm Offord turned up at the chamber for 20 days between mid-October, when he took his seat, and February this year.
He was controversially given a life peerage by Johnson a few months after failing to get elected to Holyrood.
SNP MP Peter Wishart, shadow leader of the House of Commons, said: “The House of Lords has no place in a functioning, democratic society.
“It will come as no surprise to the public that the House of Lords was so poorly attended throughout this parliamentary term – none more so than Baroness Davidson, who fled Scotland to avoid scrutiny from the Scottish electorate.
“Unfortunately, too many unelected peers are content to sit at home while collecting their pay – knowing full well they can never be removed from their position.
“There can be no doubt that the Westminster system is fundamentally broken. It’s time for Scotland to chart its own path with independence.”
Davidson was an MSP from 2011 until she stood down at the 2021 Holyrood election. She spent eight years as leader of the Scottish Tories before resigning in 2019, citing the pressure of a new family and Brexit.
At the time of her arrival in the Lords, Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links claimed she wanted to make it a “democratic chamber” and to contribute to “areas of importance”.
But she was attacked for taking up the peerage by Nicola Sturgeon, who said she was going to “dodge an election” and “pursue a political career at the taxpayers’ expense” without ever having to gain the approval of voters.
The National tried to contact Baroness Davidson for comment through the House of Lords but did not receive a response.
