Girls gang up on George

He had hoped to use the Big Brother house as a soapbox for his political views. But George Galloway has been given short shrift by housemates who nominated him for eviction.

The east London MP joins glamour model Jodie Marsh and Eighties pop singer Pete Burns in being the first to face the chop this Friday night.

A grim-faced Galloway responded to the news today by announcing: "I'm going back to bed."

He will now face a live public vote on whether he is evicted.

Essex girls Chantelle and Marsh both voted for Galloway - claiming he looked down on them.

Giving her nominations in the diary room, Chantelle said: "He more or less said I was uneducated. He said he couldn't understand why I was a vegetarian when I come from Essex because most vegetarians come from north London.

"He completely insulted me. He always thinks he's right. I don't like the way he makes me feel like I am below him. Plus, I said I'm middle-class and he said I'm working-class. Don't try to make me feel stupid."

Marsh said she felt "bullied" by Galloway during a debate on fur. "I felt like he was picking on me," she said. "He's old enough to be my dad but I feel bullied by him and what he said to Chantelle about her being uneducated. I don't think George is a very nice person."

The vote comes as Galloway faces growing anger from his constituents. Some have set up a website which urges the MP to "get back to work" and calculates the cost to the taxpayer of his absence. At 11am today it stood at just under £800.

Even if he does become the first to leave the Big Brother house, he will miss a vital parliamentary debate on the Crossrail project - set to go through his Bethnal Green and Bow constituency - on Thursday.

Galloway was also nominated for eviction by Preston, who said: "He doesn't seem to get on with young people." He added: "When Chantelle had her party, I overheard him say 'She's going to win it now.'"

Galloway himself nominated Marsh because "she's sexually obsessed of the crudest variety" and Pete Burns because "he's crude" and "vain".

Marsh got the most votes. Basketball star Dennis Rodman said: "She bitches too much about shit that got her famous."

Michael Barrymore - who managed to avoid a single nomination - said: "Everybody's to blame with everything that's wrong with Jodie's life."

Pete Burns - who had earlier bonded with Marsh before falling out over his fur coat - said: "If she's gonna have views on things like fur, people are gonna have views on things like her tits.

"She seems like a loose cannon, a very damaged girl. I wouldn't piss on her if she burst into flames." Meanwhile-government experts said Burns could face prison over his "gorilla hair" coat. Trading in endangered species carries a penalty of up to five years prison and an unlimited fine, biodiversity minister Jim Knight said.

A spokesman for the Met's wildlife crime unit said: "I have never heard of a gorilla fur coat before, but we are aware of this and we will investigate it in due course."

David Cowdrey of the WWF said: "This would be an absolute first if it is gorilla, but this is setting a terrible example."