Splash MP Penny Mordaunt on ITV Tom Daley swimming show

A Conservative MP said her appearance on the Splash TV reality show would support a lido and armed forces charities, and she would not benefit financially.

Asked if this was a chance to boost her career, Penny Mordaunt said: "I am under no illusions about my role in life."

And the Portsmouth MP said the training would be done in her own time, it would not affect her job, and she had the backing of party whips.

She was not sure what she would be wearing in the programme, hosted by Tom Daley, but assured constituents: "I am not wearing a bikini, so let me dispel that."

Conservative MP Nadine Dorries was investigated by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards after her 2012 appearance on the I'm A Celebrity programme.