Nicola Sturgeon has described the possibility of sleaze scandal MP Owen Paterson getting a seat in the House of Lords as "grotesque".
The First Minister responded after the North Shropshire Tory MP resigned following a lobbying scandal.
Earlier today a spokesperson for Prime Minister Boris Johnson declined to rule out the possibility of Paterson receiving peerage.
The former Northern Ireland secretary, a long-standing pal of Johnson, had been found to have breached Commons rules by lobbying officials and ministers for two companies paying him more than £100,000-a-year.
Following the 24-hour debacle, the government humiliatingly U-turned after attempting to overhaul the disciplinary process to save him from suspension.
The SNP leader was asked about her views on the possibility of Paterson getting a seat in the unelected Lords.
She said: "It would be grotesque and deeply offensive that somebody who was found to breach standards by an independent process of investigation, who ended up resigning from the Commons albeit in a messy process ended up being put back into politics through the House of Lords.
"I say that as someone who is in principle opposed to unelected peers sitting in the House of Lords."
A date for the by-election has yet to be set.
The rural constituency is considered ultra-safe for the Tories, with Paterson having held it since 1997, but allegations of sleaze aimed at the Conservatives under the current leadership will likely feature strongly in the contest.
A date is yet to be set for the by-election in North Shropshire, where Paterson won 63% of the vote in 2019, beating Labour by nearly 23,000 votes, with the Lib Dems coming third.
But the Lib Dems were talking up their chances following their shock victory in the former Tory stronghold of Chesham and Amersham in June.
Officials expect concerns over controversial planning reforms could again feature on the doorstep, as well as the Conservatives' handling of sewage polluting rivers.
A Lib Dem source added: "The Liberal Democrats are the anti-sleaze party in this election and the best placed to win votes from the Conservatives.
"We came second to the Tories in last May's local elections in North Shropshire, showing that we are the main opposition to Boris Johnson's sleazy and corrupt Government here."
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