Kezia Dugdale: Ex-Scottish Labour leader joins I'm a Celebrity line-up

Former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale is rumoured to be heading to Australia for this year’s I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here.

The Member of Scottish Parliament, 36, has been confirmed as a late entry to the 2017 line-up, according to reports.

She is expected to appear alongside Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s father Stanley, boxer Amir Khan and a hosts of other stars including Georgia Toffolo from Made in Chelsea and The Saturday’s Vanessa White.

The ITV show lasts about three weeks, which means the MSP for Lothian will miss multiple constituency surgeries and next week’s UK Budget.

Conservative MP Nadine Dorries, the last serving politician to go into the jungle, was suspended by the party following the decision in 2012 and later had to apologise for refusing to declare how much she was paid for it.

The Sun quoted a source as saying: “It’s hard to represent constituents when you’re on the other side of the world.

“This signing is bound to annoy a lot of taxpayers. Kezia is going to be unable to perform her day job and serve her constituents for several weeks while she’s in the show.”

But another source apparently said: “What a fantastic opportunity for Kez to speak about politics and Labour values on one of the most popular and watched TV shows in the UK.

“Everyone in the party knows Kez worked tirelessly as leader, and held over 30 surgeries this year alone despite the pressure of being in the top job, and she has donated more than £20,000 to charity.”

Rumours of her appearance on the ITV show come as the new leader of the Scottish Labour party is set to be announced.

Ms Dugdale, who has been a critic of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, resigned as Scottish leader in August after taking on the role in the wake of the 2015 General Election.

SNP MSP James Dornan added: "We all accept the new @scottishlabour leader is going to be a disaster but surely this is still a bit extreme Kezia."

When she resigned in August Ms Dugdale said she left the party "in better shape than I found it" and that the party needed a new leader with "fresh energy, drive and a new mandate" to take the party into the next Holyrood elections in four years' time.