A Conservative party donor who failed to win election to Holyrood in May, 2021, is to be made a Scotland Office minister. Businessman Malcolm Offord will be given a peerage to allow him to take up the UK government role.
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said Mr Offord "will bring to bear a wealth of valuable business experience" as the country recovers from the pandemic.
The move has drawn accusations of "cronyism" from the SNP, who said it showed "contempt for democracy".
Mr Offord, who founded the private equity firm Badenoch and Co, stood as a Conservative candidate for the Lothian region in May's Scottish Parliament election.
He previously ran the pro-union No Borders campaign during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum and has donated thousands of pounds to the Conservative party in recent years.
The Edinburgh-based businessman replaces Banff and Buchan MP David Duguid, who was sacked from his Scotland Office junior ministerial role during Boris Johnson's recent Cabinet reshuffle.
Offord's peerage has been gazetted in the name style and title of Baron Offord of Garvel, of Greenock in the County of Renfrewshire.
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