Angela Rayner has stressed the importance of downtime as she defiantly hit back at criticism of her dancing in Ibiza while on holiday.
The deputy prime minister was filmed getting her groove on in the DJ Booth at a superclub in the Balearic islands, sparking hostile reactions from former Tory MPs such as Nadine Dorries.
The clip was shared by celebrity DJ Denise van Outen on Instagram, who described the moment as a “surprise booth rave up with Angela Rayner”.
Dorries described it as “ill-judged” and “utterly adolescent”, but Rayner has defended her actions.
Speaking to Times Radio on Thursday, she said: “People will have an opinion but if I’m on holiday for a couple of days, I’m on holiday for a couple of days.
“We have all had a dance at one time in our lives.”
Appearing on Sky News, she added to the comments, saying: “I take my job really seriously, and I’m always in Parliament and I’m always doing what needs to be done and I’ll continue to do that.
“I just think everybody has got to have downtime. I do take my job really seriously and I like to talk about what I’m doing to help other people.
“I’m working class, I like a dance, I like dance music. I got criticised for going to the opera if you remember – I was a champagne socialise for going to the theatre.”
She also told how she tries to be a good boss.
“I would say that the culture in Parliament and Westminster is not ideal for having a work-life balance for my staff”, she added.
“This is true of many public sector workers as well, you always go above and beyond.
“I recognise my staff do that but I certainly try to be a good boss.
“Part of that is about respecting people’s roles, what they are doing, and giving them as much support as you possiblly can.”
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