Nadine Dorries confident of Conservative party survival Nadine Dorries took time off from parliament to appear on a reality TV show. Nadine Dorries has expressed confidence that she will not be permanently excluded by the Conservative party after a "very happy meeting" with the chief whip, Sir George Young. Dorries was suspended in her absence earlier this month after it emerged she had flown out to Australia to take part in the reality TV show I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here, to the dismay of colleagues. The MP for Mid Bedfordshire, who returned from Australia on Monday, said she met with Young for "good-natured" talks lasting 15 minutes, due to resume next week, when she would learn whether the Conservative party whip would be restored. "I think we will be fine with the whip," she said after the meeting. We had a very good-natured, a very happy meeting. We have adjourned the meeting and we are reconvening this time next week, if not before. But the Conservative party issued a statement which said: "The whip has not been restored and nor will it be until she proves that she can rebuild bridges with her constituents, her association and her parliamentary colleagues." Dorries insisted she wanted to carry on in parliament. But unless she regains the whip, she will not be able to stand again as a Tory candidate. Young could restore her to the party ranks if he accepts her explanation of her actions, or withdraw the whip altogether, leaving her to sit in the House of Commons as an independent. "Of course I want to be an MP," said Dorries. An MP is not doing a job, it is a life choice. If I didn't want to make that life choice I wouldn't be doing it, I can assure you. The MP was the first of 12 contestants to leave the TV show following a public vote after 11 days in the jungle. She told her local newspaper on Monday she did not regret a thing and was now the "best-known MP in Britain" as a result of taking part in the reality show. She also stressed she had no intention of defecting to another party, amid speculation she might jump to Ukip. Dorries, who previously compared her decision to go on I'm a Celebrity with the ministerial work undertaken abroad by her neighbouring MP Alistair Burt in his capacity as Foreign Office minister, told the Times & Citizen on Monday: "I think my constituents have been fed a huge line. This is how I have chosen to spend my holiday and this is what I've chosen to do. When MPs go on holiday they switch their phones off. I think there has been a slightly hysterical reaction. She added: "I think that some of the attention that I am receiving is to do with people thinking I'm going to go to another party, but I'm not. Just because I'm critical of Cameron it doesn't mean I'm about to defect. Prior to the programme being aired, Dorries had insisted the show was the perfect opportunity to prove that politicians are "normal" and to raise awareness about issues such as the idea of reducing the abortion limit from 24 weeks to 20. Despite most of her views being edited out of the ITV show, Dorries believes her TV stint will lead to greater attention for her political views in future. The MP said: "What the time in the jungle has meant is that no one doesn't know who Nadine Dorries is in terms of being an MP. When I speak out about subjects in the future people will know who it is that is talking about it, and I will have more of an audience. My colleagues in parliament say that I am now the best-known MP in Britain. Dorries has been criticised for being paid as an MP while also being paid to take part in the programme, but she said other MPs made money alongside their parliamentary salaries and that she would donate her salary to charity. Dorries is paid £65,738 a year to serve as an MP and confirmed she would donate a month's salary to local play schemes for children in her constituency. She dismissed reports that her fee for appearing on the reality was £40,000 as "massively exaggerated." "The final amount is still to be decided," she said, "but anything I do get from doing the programme, which is subject to Australian withholding tax will be declared in the register of members' interests." She said: "One MP has criticised me from a beach in Antigua. Any money that I earn from this has been massively exaggerated. She added: "I haven't been away for a month, but I will donate my parliamentary salary to play schemes in Mid Bedfordshire. When my babies were very little I struggled starting up a playgroup and it's such a difficult thing to get funding for.