Angela Rayner brushes off row over Ibiza nightclub raving video after backlash
Deputy PM defends her clubbing on the Spanish party island during the summer.
Angela Rayner responds to Ibiza video backlash
Angela Rayner has dismissed the furore over her raving in Ibiza after she faced a backlash.
The Deputy Prime Minister faced criticism last week when a video emerged of her dancing during a night out on the Spanish party island.
Asked about the reaction, Ms Rayner insisted that she took her job "really seriously" but that it was also important to have "downtime".
She told Sky News: "I was on holiday for a couple of days, I mean you can criticise my dancing, it is subjective.
"I take my job really seriously and what I do and I'm always in Parliament and I'm always doing what needs to be done and I'll continue to do that.
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"But I also believe as a former trade unionist that ... you've got to have downtime as well. Everybody has to have downtime.
"But I do take my job really seriously and like to talk about what I'm doing to help other people."
The Labour politician added: "Yes 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 socialist for going to the theatre."
Asked whether it was harder for women to be in politics, she said: "I think we get judged very much."
Ms Rayner was criticised by some when actress Denise van Outen shared the video on Instagram of her partying in Ibiza during Parliament's summer recess.
But the Housing Secretary was also defended by politicians from across the political spectrum, including Michael Gove.
Mr Gove, who held the housing brief in the Tory government and was previously filmed raving in an Aberdeen nightclub, wrote on X: "It's a tradition for secretaries of state in the department."
