NICOLA Sturgeon has accused Ruth Davidson of being an Olympic standard “flip flopper” after she said she was ready to work with Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.

The Remain-voting Scottish Tory leader previously criticised the former foreign secretary and banned him from her party conference earlier this month.

However with Mr Johnson the hot favourite to replace Theresa May in Downing Street, Ms Davidson said she was prepared to cooperate with the arch Brexiter.

Any rift between the Scottish and UK Tory leaders would be a gift to the SNP, who would cite it as another reason for Scotland to go its own way on the constitution.

At First Minister’s Questions, Ms Sturgeon accused Ms Davidson of “cosying up” to her former opponent because it was politically expedient and becoming a Brexiter herself.

In a riposte that caused sharp intakes of breath in the chamber, Ms Davidson suggested to Ms Sturgeon that she had never escaped from Alex Salmond’s shadow.

“I’ve never had a problem standing up to the alpha males in my own party,” Ms Davidson said, “I wonder if the First Minister is able always to have said the same?”

Ms Sturgeon’s official spokesman later accused Ms Davidson of “utter desperation” and trying to deflect from the meltdown of Mrs May’s premiership.

The exchange followed Ms Davidson telling the Scottish Daily Express that she could work with Mr Johnson if he succeeded Mrs May.

She said: “I have worked with him when he was Foreign Secretary. I will work with whoever the Prime Minister is.

“I haven’t had a phone call yet to ask me to run his campaign in Scotland. I am not expecting the call. But I will genuinely judge him on the same criteria as I judge any of the candidates.”

She said she would measure the Tory leadership candidates against three tests: strengthening the union, advancing Scotland’s interests and healing the divisions of the Scottish independence and EU referendums.

At FMQs, Ms Davidson said the FM failed to respect the 2014 independence referendum and the 2016 EU referendum, and asked if she would respect any re-runs.

Ms Sturgeon said: “In 2013, I seem to recall that one Ruth Davidson... said to the people of Scotland that we had to vote against independence to secure our place in the European Union. What is happening now? The people of Scotland face being taken out of the European Union against our will.”

Ms Davidson said Ms Sturgeon was only interested in using Brexit to advance independence, and would still push for Indyref2 even if Brexit was called off.

She said: “This is about demanding more referendums until people are browbeaten into giving her the result that she wants. Isn’t it the case that she’s only interested in democracy when it goes her way?”

Mr Sturgeon replied: “The difference perhaps between Ruth Davidson and I is this - I've got principles and I stick to my principles. Ruth Davidson wouldn't recognise a principle.

“Ruth Davidson used to passionately oppose Brexit, now Ruth Davidson supports Brexit.

"She used to demand that we stayed in the single market, now she wants us taken out of the single market.

"And Ruth Davidson, of course, use to call Boris Johnson names that I can't repeat in this chamber - now she is cosying up to Boris Johnson, the arch-Brexiteer."

“I think it is just a pit that flip-flopping is not an Olympic sport, because Ruth Davidson would be a guaranteed gold medal winner.”

Ms Davidson hit back: “Presiding Officer, I’ve never had a problem standing up to the alpha males in my own party. I wonder if the First Minister is able always to have said the same?”

She added: "She talks about principle, well let’s talk about a matter of principle.

"I believe that if you ask people to make a decision, if you say to people that we will enact whatever you decide, then democracy is fundamentally damaged if at the first opportunity you insist that vote is held again.

"Doesn't she see that? Doesn't she see that you shouldn't change the rules after the event?"

Ms Sturgeon asked Ms Davidson why didn’t want to respect the 62% of people in Scotland who voted to remain in the EU.

“We have had Ruth Davidson’s grovelling loyalty to the Prime Minister and her Westminster bosses. I think we see Ruth Davidson so desperate to cosy up to Boris Johnson today that her conversion to a hard Brexiteer is complete.”

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard later urged Ms Sturgeon to put pressure on EDF Renewables to give work to the mothballed BiFab yard in Fife.

The company is reportedly planning to award a construction contract for a £2bn wind farm in the Firth of Forth to a firm in Indonesia.

It could mean just 60 new jobs in an Edinburgh office instead of 1000 across Fife.

Mr Leonard said: "According to the Scottish TUC, the transportation alone of these structures from south-east Asia would generate carbon emissions equivalent to an extra 35 million cars on the road.

"And we are in a climate emergency. So what will the First Minister do to send a clear message to EDF, that if it wishes to be part of Scotland's renewables future it must stand by the promises made to the workers and the communities of Fife?"

Ms Sturgeon said declined to comment on the specifics of the case, given ongoing negotiations, but added: “The Scottish Government sends a very clear message to all companies getting contracts like this that we want to see Scotland treated fairly and that message is unequivocal.

"We will continue to work with the unions and others, also with the UK Government.

"Unfortunately, not all of the levers over this lie within our hands.

"But the Scottish Government took the action that we took to save Bifab [by taking a stake in it] because we do want to see it have a positive, prosperous future and we're determined to do everything we can to ensure that is the case."