Former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale ditches politics to jet out to Australia to take part in I'm a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here
- The 36-year-old MSP will join Stanley Johnson and Amir Khan Down Under
- Her absence is likely to cause problems with constituents and rival parties
- She's been holding back-to-back surgeries to make up for ones she'll miss
Former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale (pictured) will be heading to the Australian jungle to take part in I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here
The former leader of the Scottish Labour Party Kezia Dugdale is set to ditch her Parliamentary duties for a bush tucker trial or two when she takes part in I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here this weekend.
The Member of Scottish Parliament, 36, is a late entry, but has now been confirmed as part of the 2017 lineup.
She will join Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson's father Stanley and boxer Amir Khan when the Outback action starts on Sunday night.
The show typically lasts for three weeks, which means the Lothian MSP will miss multiple constituency surgeries, as well as next week's Budget.
The last serving politician to go into the jungle was Conservative MP Nadine Dorries, who was suspended by her party following the decision in 2012.
She later had to apologise for refusing to declare how much she was paid for the ITV show.
Ms Dugdale's I'm A Celeb appearance is likely to raise eyebrows, particularly with her constituents and members of rival parties.
A source told The Scottish Sun: '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.
The 36-year-old MSP (pictured)'s absence is unlikely to go unnoticed with next week's Budget
'Kezia is going to be unable to perform her day job and serve her constituents for several weeks while she's in the show.
'It might be good publicity for her, but there's some who will think it's not so good for the Labour party.'
Ms Dugdale is a staunch critic of her party's leader Jeremy Corbyn and stepped down from the Scottish top job in August.
She told voters she wanted to give her successor 'space and time' to prepare for the next Scottish Parliament election when it comes around in 2021.
According to the newspaper, Ms Dugdale, who is in a relationship with SNP MSP Jenny Gilruth, hosted back-to-back constituency surgeries in a bid to avoid criticism over those she will miss during the show.
There is still one more celebrity to be added to the lineup. The first episode will air on ITV at 9pm on Sunday.
This year's I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here lineup includes Boris Johnson's father Stanley (pictured far left), boxer Amir Khan (pictured fourth left) and Made In Chelsea star Georgia 'Toff' Toffolo (pictured second right)
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