A British MP has been suspended from the parliamentary Conservative Party for flying to Australia to be part of a celebrity reality television show.

Tory MP Nadine Dorries was spotted in a Queensland jungle camp preparing for the ongoing series I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!

The member for Mid Bedfordshire says she is trying to bring politics to a new audience but it has not gone down well within her party.

Grilled about the matter on British TV, home secretary Theresa May replied:

"It's up to each individual MP to decide how they deal with their constituents and what service they give to their constituents," she said.

"Frankly I think an MP's job is in their constituency and in the House of Commons."

Ms Dorries said she planned to discuss her signature cause - a push to reduce the time limit on abortions from 24 to 20 weeks - with other contestants around the campfire.

But after a day of debate about the role of publicity in politics, Ms Dorries was suspended from the party by prime minister David Cameron.

It does not help that Ms Dorries already has a strained relationship with Mr Cameron, whom she has labelled an "arrogant posh boy" in the past.

'Definitely a disconnect'

Some wonder whether the backlash against Ms Dorries has more to do with the perceived problems Tories have with women, especially since all British MPs have the right to hold down other jobs.

Robert Oxley of the Taxpayers Alliance thinks Ms Dorries's decision reveals fundamental problems with the political system.

"This British MP should be in the houses of parliament representing her constituents," he said.

"She's got some very important votes coming up, a vote on the fiscal statement that George Osborne is going to turn out which is pretty much going to determine the future of our economic credibility.

"I think there's definitely a disconnect between Westminster and our politicians and what real people are feeling and the troubles that they're going through.

"But the idea that seeing an MP chowing down on the latest bug, or something not particularly enjoyable, is a way to make people understand their politicians better, I simply don't agree - everyone knows that is not true.

Some of Ms Dorries's constituents were certainly taken aback by the news she was gone.

"I think she should certainly be deducted her money from being an MP if she's going to go off doing something else and she's not there in the houses of parliament to do her work," one said.

"Hopefully she'll have a good time and decide that that's the place that she wants to settle down," another said.

It sounds like someone could be voted off the island.