RUTH Davidson has finally joined the House of Lords after deciding on her official title.
While the former Scottish Tory leader was nominated for a peerage by Boris Johnson last summer, she said she would not take her seat in the Chamber until she had finished her parliamentary term at Holyrood.
The MSP stepped down in May but did not rush to the Lords – last month, The National revealed that she had not taken her seat yet as she was still to meet with the member of the royal household responsible for setting peers’ official titles.
READ MORE: Ruth Davidson joins House of Lords with new official title
Today The Herald confirmed that Davidson now has an official title – Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links.
It comes after she was reportedly “furious” that she was referred to as “Baroness” by BBC Scotland’s former political editor Brian Taylor last year.
She was understood to have contacted the journalist to complain. A party source said the title was “not the image the Tories are going for” ahead of the May 6 Scottish election.
“It just adds to that stereotype of Conservatives that we’re trying to move away from,” they said.
READ MORE: 'Ludicrous' election of Tory peers show lack of democracy in Lords
Davidson’s new title prompted fresh criticism of the unelected House of Lords system this afternoon. National contributor Gerry Hassan wrote: “Just in case anybody out there still thinks the UK is a fully fledged political democracy. Ruth Davidson – elected by no one & accountable to no one – has 'taken' up her 'title' in the Lords: Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links.”
Writer John Wight added: “Scotland urgently needs to escape the 19th century and move forward as a modern democratic republic.”
Lundin Links is a Fife coastal village and Davidson’s childhood home.
“I think ‘Baroness Davidson with London Links’ seems entirely appropriate as a title,” joked David S Berry.
“Did she even think about this before she chose it? Links? Really?” asked Lorraine Bell.
Others, including one former Ukip MEP, said the "Links" part of the name reminded them of sausages.
Former Foreign Office adviser David Clark commented: “Labour has had plenty of chances to get rid of the House of Lords. I’m sad to say that its continued existence is a serious stain on the party’s reputation.”
A spokesperson for the SNP said: "The leader responsible for a Scottish Tory operation to keep Boris Johnson out of Downing Street has now fully sold out, having been bought by his gift of a lucrative lifetime seat in the Lords.
"It's questionable whether the good Fifers of Lundin Links will appreciate being associated with such an insult to democracy as the unelected Lords.
"And given the appalling stench of sleaze that surrounds Ruth Davidson's Westminster colleagues, perhaps a better title would be Baroness Davidson of dodgy links."
The House of Lords is the second-largest legislative Chamber in the world, behind the Chinese National People’s Congress.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon rips into Ruth Davidson over House of Lords peerage
The SNP’s Tommy Sheppard has described the institution as “an affront to democracy” and the party supports its abolition.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon attacked Davidson’s Lords appointment in Holyrood several times before she left the Chamber. In one clash, she told the Better Together figure: “She’s heading to an unelected parliament but has the brass neck to lecture the rest of us on scrutiny and accountability.
“There is no ermine cloak in the world that will cover up that hypocrisy.”
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