Angela Rayner has responded to criticism after she was spotted DJing and partying in Ibiza last month.
In August, footage emerged of Rayner behind the booth with Australian producer Fisher at Hi Ibiza, dancing to a remix of Gotye’s ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’. While many people defended her, others, including former Conservative MP Nadine Dorries, criticised the UK’s Deputy Prime Minister.
Dorries wrote an op-ed in the Daily Mail in response to the footage, saying: “How ill-judged of Angela, how utterly adolescent of her – to have thought it was a good idea to party like it’s 1999 when she’s the Deputy Prime Minister.”
And now Rayner has defended herself, telling Sky News that she was on holiday. “I take my job really seriously,” she said. “I’m always in Parliament and I’m always doing what needs to be done, and I’ll continue to do that.
“You’ve got to have downtime as well, everybody has to have downtime. But I do take my job really seriously and I like to talk about what I’m doing to help other people.”
She added: “I mean, you can criticise my dancing all you like, it is subjective! Yes, I’m working class, I like a dance. I like dance music!”
Rayner also discussed her friendship with Fisher, explaining that she’s known him for a few years and calling him a “really great guy”.
“Yes, I’m working class – I like a dance, I like dance music.”@AngelaRayner and @KayBurley discuss the reaction to the video of the deputy prime minister dancing in Ibiza.https://t.co/xItZsH7tea
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/qFFRgX3SBJ
— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 5, 2024
The 44-year-old is known for her love of music, and was seen on the decks at a charity event in Manchester back in 2022 to help raise money for homeless charity A Bed Every Night. Her music taste differs from that of the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, however, as she revealed to The Mirror last year that he’s more of a Blondie fan.
Meanwhile, Starmer responded to the controversy over Oasis reunion tickets at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday (September 4). With Ticketmaster’s ‘dynamic pricing’ practice in effect when the band’s tickets went on sale last weekend, many fans were left disappointed as the prices of some tickets increased, and the PM called the situation “depressing”.
He said: “It’s great that Oasis are back together – I think probably about half the country [were] queuing for tickets over the weekend. But it is depressing to hear of price hikes – I’m committed to putting the fans at the heart of music and end extortionate price resales and we’re starting a consultation to work out how best we can do this.”
