Nadine Dorries Joins I'm A Celebrity

Conservative MP Nadine Dorries could face a backlash from her constituents as she heads to Australia for up to a month to take part in reality TV show I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here.

Ms Dorries, 55, who represents Mid Bedfordshire, will be the first serving MP to take part in the programme.

As well as risking the anger of those she represents for taking extended leave from her £65,738 day job, she will also face questions from senior MPs, The Sun said.

Ms Dorries' appearance on the show, which begins on Sunday, will mean she stands to miss an EU budget vote and Chancellor George Osborne's autumn statement on the economy.

She is already in Brisbane preparing for the programme and justified her decision by telling The Sun: "I'm doing the show because 16 million people watch it. If people are watching I'm A Celebrity, that is where MPs should be going.

"I'm not going in there to upset people, but I have opinions."

Her decision will infuriate senior colleagues as she did not follow long-standing party rules by asking permission from the Chief Whip or Prime Minister David Cameron.

George Galloway infamously pretended to be a cat on Celebrity Big Brother

A senior Conservative source told Sky News: "This came as a surprise to everyone."

Asked about Ms Dorrie's decision during his tour of the Middle East, the Prime Minister said: "It's up to Nadine to speak for herself."

When asked if she risked losing the party whip, he joked: "The whips might be relieved if she did."

Home Secretary Theresa May told ITV's This Morning: "I think an MP's job is in their constituency and in the House of Commons."

Ms Dorries' sojourn in the jungle has attracted criticism on Twitter and calls for her to donate any fee to charity.

Former Tory MP Louise Mensch, who gave up her Corby seat in August to live with her husband in America, wrote: "Nothing sadder than a politician, or ex-politician, on any of those shows.

"Just imagining the scene in the whips' office if I said I wanted to skip Parliament for weeks to go on a celebrity TV show."

Former Tory MP Harry Greenway, said: "This is outrageous. Her local constituency party should think very deeply as to whether she is putting them first or not.

"She is certainly making a very good case out for herself to be dumped as a candidate at the next election.

"Whatever fee she receives should go to charity, because her parliamentary pay won't stop during her absence," Mr Greenway added.

The TaxPayers' Alliance told The Sun: "While she is being a Z-list celebrity, her constituents will be without an MP."

Ms Dorries has courted controversy in her political career and earned a reputation for outspoken attacks against David Cameron.

Earlier this year she branded the Prime Minister and chancellor George Osborne: "two posh boys who don't know the price of milk".

In 2010 the MP appeared on another reality show, Tower Block of Commons, which challenged politicians to live on a council estate and get by on jobseekers' allowance of £64.30-a-week.

But she was caught cheating when it emerged she had stashed a £50 note in her bra.

George Galloway was criticised for appearing on Celebrity Big Brother in January 2006, while serving as MP for Bethnal Green and Bow.

Liberal Democrat Lembit Opik also appeared on I'm a Celebrity soon after losing his seat in the 2010 general election.

He backed Ms Dorries' decision, tweeting: "Good on Nadine Dorries for the jungle if she's really going in. Go gal!"

Tim Montgomerie MP, editor of Conservative Home, wrote: "When, some months ago, Nadine told me, in strictest confidence, that she was going to do this I tried to persuade her not to.

"But she wasn't for budging and I can increasingly understand why.

"Her ambition isn't, of course, to persuade any of the viewers about specific policies (she's unlikely to get any opportunity to talk in those terms) but perhaps, just perhaps, to present an image of a Tory MP that defies some of the popular pre-conceptions and caricatures.

"She may be voted off the show quickly and the popularity that follows her appearance may be a bubble that quickly bursts.

"There is a possibility, however, that this Liverpudlian of working class roots will become one of our party's best known MPs.

"I don't think that's a bad thing although I don't suspect David Cameron will agree."

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