Agencies/London
Nadine Dorries is facing a fight for her political career with angry constituents calling for the Tory MP to be deselected over her appearance on reality TV.
The Mid-Bedfordshire MP will be told to “explain herself” to furious local Conservatives when she returns from Australia where she is taking part in I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here.
Constituents said they were “disgusted” with Dorries and warned that even loyal Tories will consider voting for another party in the next election if she is not deselected.
Dorries was suspended from the Parliamentary party after she infuriated David Cameron by failing to tell Tory chiefs she would be on the show.
She will still be paid her £65,738 salary while away from the Commons for up to a month in addition to as much as £40,000 for her stay in the jungle.
TV bosses are understood not to have told her of her suspension.
Some commentators said the prime minister’s decision could backfire and she could even defect to the UK Independence Party.
Constituent Nicola Neal, 38, from Flitwick, said she had e-mailed Dorries about her sick child but not received a response only to discover her MP was travelling to Australia. She said: “She should be deselected. This is a dereliction of duty. The feeling among mums in the playground is one of disgust. Many Tory voters in the area do not want her as the candidate.”
Another constituent, Kayleigh Knight, tweeted: “Nadine Dorries is just the biggest joke going. It sickens me that she is my local MP.”
Budge Wells, deputy chairman of the local Conservative Association, said: “We are going to have a meeting of the executive, hopefully by tomorrow, to discuss the situation.” Asked whether local voters are angry that Dorries had left for Australia, he said: “Yes. I’ve had a lot of letters and they are quite cross about it.” He said deselection was a “very serious action” to take and added: “If nothing else we need to wait until the MP returns and explains herself to us.”
Earlier pressed on her fellow Tory’s forthcoming appearance on the programme, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, said: “Frankly, I think an MP’s job is in their constituency and in the House of Commons.”
Labour accused the prime minister, who is on an official visit to the Middle East, of showing weak leadership when he earlier refused to be drawn into the fray. He said: “Nadine Dorries can speak for herself on this issue.”
Speaking before Dorries was suspended, the Labour MP Steve McCabe said: “It is shameless that a Conservative MP thinks it is right to spend time boosting her own profile on a reality TV show in Australia instead of fighting for jobs and growth in Britain. David Cameron is so weak he cannot even stop his backbenchers appearing on TV when they should be standing up for their constituents. He should get a grip.”
There was similar controversy in 2006, when George Galloway, then MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, appeared on Celebrity Big Brother.
Dorries will be absent for votes in the Commons and could miss Osborne’s autumn statement on the economy on December 5 if she survives on the show long enough.
Her constituency chairman, Paul Duckett, said he was “surprised” to hear Dorries was taking part and would consider “further action” depending on views within the local association. “She is a very good constituency MP,” he said. “She is very diligent and she spends a lot of time on the job and I’m quite surprised that she has decided to just go away and take part on the programme. Normally she would tell me and normally we would know because she is a very diligent MP, which is why it came as a bit of a surprise from the media that she is going off to do a TV programme.”