Dorries enjoys life on the outside
By politics.co.uk staff
I'm A Celebrity's Nadine Dorries has admitted she is enjoying life outside the Conservative party's parliamentary whipping system.
The Mid-Bedfordshire MP has not yet been fully reintegrated into the Tory parliamentary party after her unexpected – and unsuccessful – attempt to win over public hearts on ITV1's flagship reality TV show.
She met with chief whip Sir George Young last week after returning from Australia to public and private hostility from voters and politicians.
The chief whip's spokesman said she would have the whip restored if she proved she could win back the trust of her constituents, her local association and her parliamentary colleagues.
"I am quite sure, confident, that I should get the whip back very shortly," she told Sky News this morning.
"It's quite nice being independent at the moment, actually."
Dorries refused to consider what might happen if she is permanently shut out of the Tory party, simply stating: "We will cross that bridge when we come to it."
She has previously raised eyebrows by claiming the controversy over her disappearance to Australia was the result of sexism.
Former chief whip Andrew Mitchell granted the request for her to leave parliament to do something "very controversial", she claimed.
Dorries' activities on I'm A Celebrity included eating a camel's toe, talking about abortion and eating an ostrich anus. She was the first to be voted out of the show, but was forced to remain in Australia until December because of contractual obligations.
