The Conservative party has suspended Nadine Dorries after it emerged she is to take time off from parliament to be a contestant in ITV's jungle-based reality show I'm a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here.

The decision by the MP for Mid Bedfordshire to become the first serving MP to take part in the show, which features famous faces performing in stunts that in the past have included being smothered in insects and eating a kangaroo's penis, could keep her from parliamentary and constituency business for a month.

Colleagues reacted with surprise and the MP faced a barrage of criticism. By early evening, the Conservative party had confirmed that the chief whip, Sir George Young, had withdrawn the party whip from Dorries, who did not ask him for permission to take part in the show. Her constituency chairman also said he had been unaware of her involvement in the show.

A party spokesperson said: "George Young … will have an urgent meeting with her when she gets back. The concern is that she will not be doing parliamentary or constituency business in the meantime."

Labour branded the Tory MP "shameless" over her decision to appear on the show. Dorries, who is paid £65,738 a year as an MP, will be paid up to a maximum of £40,000 for taking part in the show, which runs daily from Sunday.

Dorries, who has flown to Australia to prepare for the show – which is set in an outdoor studio in the Queensland jungle – tried to justify the decision by saying the programme would act as a platform to reach the public and raise awareness about issues such as a reduction in the abortion limit from 24 weeks to 20.

She told 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."

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 earlier in the day when he refused to be drawn into the fray. He said: "Nadine Dorries can speak for herself on this issue."

Dorries has repeatedly clashed with the prime minister, most recently describing Cameron and George Osborne as "two arrogant posh boys" with "no passion to want to understand the lives of others".

Speaking before the whip was suspended from Dorries, 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 5 December 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. Duckett met his deputy chair on Tuesday to discuss the matter.

"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. If she is doing this programme and taking time out – which is a very unusual thing for her – we will take a view if this is what actually happens."

Duckett added: "We shall find out what she is doing, where she is and what she is intending to do and if it is in contravention to anyone's opinions within the association then we will take further action."

The former Tory MP Louise Mensch, who gave up her Corby seat in August to live with her husband in the US, was among those who took to Twitter to criticise Dorries's decision.

"Nothing sadder than a politician, or ex-politician, on any of those shows," she said. "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."

She added: "Nadine pretending that a serious issue like abortion rights is why she did this is the lowest of the low. Indefensible stuff."

Lembit Öpik, the former Liberal Democrat MP, took part in the show after losing his seat in the 2010 general election.

Öpik, who lasted only 14 days in the Australian jungle and was bitten by a snake in his first week, tweeted his support for Dorries: "Good on Nadine Dorries for the jungle if she's really going in. Go gal!"

Tim Montgomerie, founder and editor of UK political website ConservativeHome, suggested Dorries could "present an image of a Tory MP that defies some of the popular preconceptions and caricatures".

He posted on the site: "It's not clear to me how much politics she'll be able to discuss but her hope is that she'll be able to introduce herself to an audience that would never tune into Question Time, the Daily Politics or perhaps even a main news bulletin.

"She argues that more people watch and vote in reality shows than in many elections. If that's where the people are, that's where she thinks MPs should be too."

Other figures tipped to take part in this year's show, hosted by Ant and Dec, include the Birds of a Feather actor Linda Robson and the former Coronation Street star Helen Flanagan, who played Rosie Webster.

The former world darts champion Eric Bristow is also said to be taking part. ITV declined to comment on Dorries ahead of the official announcement of the show's lineup.