Nicola Sturgeon has branded Matt Hancock's decision to appear on the ITV reality show I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here "disgraceful".
The First Minister took aim at the former UK Health Secretary for agreeing to fly to Australia to participate in the hit programme while parliament is still sitting.
Hancock, who represents West Suffolk, said he decided to enter the jungle to "go where the people are" rather than "sit in ivory towers in Westminster". Since announcing his decision to appear on the show the Conservative party has removed the whip from Hancock.
Sky News presenter Kay Burley asked Sturgeon about her views on Hancock entering the jungle.
She said: "I think it's disgraceful. I'm not particularly interested in how he gets on in the jungle. Most of my interactions with Matt, over the past few years, were when he was still UK Health Secretary were over covid and we are not properly out of covid yet.
"We certainly haven't had the full public inquiries that we need to have. To see him I think demeaning the office he used to hold and also do a real disservice to those whose lives have been impacted by covid.
"I think it's the wrong decision. But there are many, many more important things for all of us to be focusing on right now than whatever Matt Hancock chooses to get up to."
It comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was "very disappointed" in Hancock because "MPs should be working hard for their constituents".
Sunak told The Sun: "I think politics is a noble profession, at its best - it can and should be - but it's incumbent on politicians to earn people's respect and trust.
"They do that by working hard for their constituents, as the vast majority of MPs do - that is why I was very disappointed with Matt's decision."
When asked whether he would be watching the programme, Sunak told the newspaper: "I genuinely won't have the time is the honest answer."
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.
