As I returned to the House of Commons, it was clear I had swapped one jungle for another. For the last few weeks I have been in Australia filming I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! and the Conservative leadership were less than impressed. In desperation to prevent me from taking part, No. 10 drew a grenade from their armoury in the form of a whip suspension. It had no impact on my decision to join the show, but did help make me one of the best-known politicians in Britain. I wonder if that is really what they were trying to achieve?
When I was first approached by the show’s producers, I politely declined. I couldn’t see any benefit in travelling halfway around the world to eat camel toe for the public’s amusement. But I changed my mind after learning about the size of the I’m A Celebrity electorate. At least ten million viewers per night watch the programme, twice as many people as voted in the recent Police and Crime Commissioner elections. These are the people Tory politicians find difficult to reach (unless you’re a pint of Carling or your name is Boris). Politics is about advancing causes that you believe in and I was being offered a bigger audience in a week than I would gain by a lifetime of Commons speeches. Once my mind was made up, I entered a state of Girl Guide euphoria (while sworn to secrecy). I sang ‘Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree’ so often, I am amazed my staff never cottoned on.
Days later I was camping, starving and surviving with 11 other ‘celebrities’. I soon realised that each was probably more right-wing than I am.
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