Rishi Sunak could face brutal triple by-election test as Boris's honours list set to cause havoc for Tories

It was reportedly hoped the Conservative quartet would continue as MPs until the next general election and then join 261 other Tory peers in the House of Lords.

However, the House of Lords Appointments Commission informed the Cabinet Office that doing so would be constitutionally improper.

The peerage vetting body instead suggested the MPs would have to stand down if they wished to accept Johnson’s nomination to the Lords.

Dorries, Adams and Sharma appear to be prepared to vacate the House of Commons and subsequently leave Sunak to defend three seats in by-election contests held across England and Scotland.

Sharma could pose the biggest problem to the Prime Minister as he retained his Reading West constituency by 4,117 votes over the Labour candidate in 2019.

Local election results in Reading Borough Council last month showed Labour made one net gain as the Tory Party lost a councillor.

Political forecasting website Electoral Calculus also suggests the Conservative Party have a mountain to climb to cling onto Sharma’s seat based on current opinion polls.

Dorries’s Mid Bedfordshire constituency is notably safer, having even been tipped as a potential seat for Johnson to be parachuted into if the race looks too tight in Uxbridge & South Ruislip.

Despite winning in Selby & Ainstry by more than 20,000 votes in 2019, Adams’s North Yorkshire seat could provide CCHQ with the largest headache as Electoral Calculus now puts the seat on a knife-edge with Sir Keir Starmer’s party.

The Tory Party have faced an uphill electoral struggle in recent years as the cost-of-living crisis and confidence in the Government plummets.

Sunak oversaw more than 1,000 losses in local elections held across England earlier this month and the Conservatives have been defeated in four by-elections.

Jack, who served as Scotland Secretary under Johnson, Truss and Sunak, is reportedly clear he wants to stay on as Dumfries & Galloway MP.

Sunak could opt to overrule his former boss over his appointments but risks becoming locked in yet another row with Johnson.

Johnson’s list, which is expected to be waved through by Sunak, is expected to be announced before the summer recess.

Addressing constitutional concerns about the situation, Baroness Neville-Rolfe said last November: “It is a common-law principle that members of the House of Lords cannot sit as MPs and, as such, would need to stand down from the House of Commons.

“The Government are aware that there is some precedent for individuals delaying taking up their seats, but this is limited and largely related to their personal circumstances.”

Peers are similarly required to give up their peerages to enter electoral contests for Commons constituencies.

Ex-Brexit Minister Lord Frost indicated he is willing to vacate the Lords to stand as a Conservative candidate at the next general election.

Lord Frost could become the first peer to give up his place in the upper chamber for a seat in the Commons since a rule change allowed such a move in 2014.

Former Prime Minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home renounced his hereditary peerage to sit in the lower chamber and become Prime Minister in 1963.

Sir Alec's decision came at a time when only hereditary peers were able to renounce membership of the Lords to make the switch and when it was no longer constitutionally appropriate to serve as Prime Minister from the upper chamber.