Ruth Davidson is set to quit as leader of the Scottish Conservatives, it has emerged.

It is anticipated the Scottish Tory leader, 40, will make the announcement on her future on Thursday.

She is standing down after eight years at the helm of the party, in which she turned the Conservatives into the second largest party at Holyrood.

It comes as Boris Johnson announced the controversial five-week suspension of Parliament earlier on Wednesday, although it is understood Davidson had made her decision before that.

Davidson backed Johnson's rival Jeremy Hunt in the recent Conservative leadership contest, having previously criticised the new PM.

Most notably, the Scottish Conservative jousted with then-Vote Leave figurehead Johnson in a live televised debate at Wembley during the 2016 EU referendum.

Following Johnson's Tory leadership victory, she was snubbed in her appeals to him to retain David Mundell as Scottish secretary, who was instead replaced by newcomer Alister Jack.

The Scottish Tory leader only returned to work in May after a long stint away on maternity leave to give birth to her first child.

Davidson and partner Jen Wilson welcomed a son, Finn, in October 2018 after she underwent IVF treatment.

She is widely credited with turning her party's fortunes around electorally, taking over from Labour as the official Holyrood opposition after doubling Scottish Tory seats to 31 in the 2016 Holyrood election.

The Scottish Conservatives then gained 12 seats to go up their tally of MPs from one to 13 in the snap general election two years ago.