The former Top Gear star and new pub landlord ridiculed the deputy prime minister, who was spotted raving in Ibiza at 4am.
Jeremy Clarkson joked that Angela Rayner should spend more time partying and out of the office (Image: AMAZON; INSTAGRAM)
Jeremy Clarkson has ridiculed Angela Rayner after footage emerged of the deputy prime minister dancing during a night out in Ibiza last week. Writing in his Sun column, Mr Clarkson, who has recently become a pub landlord, joked that Ms Rayner’s partying was positive since it means she is not at work “dreaming up some more socialism to foist upon us all”.
Ms Rayner’s dance moves on the Spanish party island during parliament’s summer recess raised eyebrows across the political spectrum.
Mr Clarkson said: “Many pointed out that at a time of great austerity (unless you’re a train driver), she should be at work and not throwing shapes on a Spanish dance floor.”
However, he said that politicians like Ms Rayner should be allowed to have time off. Mr Clarkson continued: “Plus, if in a nightclub, it means she’s not in her office, dreaming up some more socialism to foist upon us all. I wish she, and Sir Starmer for that matter, were away a lot more – 52 weeks a year would suit me just fine.”
The 44-year-old deputy PM was questioned about the decision to go partying until the early hours of the morning this week.
In an interview with Sky News this week, Ms Rayner defended her holiday choices, saying: “Yes I’m working-class, I like a dance, I like dance music.
“I mean you can criticise my dancing, it is subjective. But 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.
“But I also believe as a former trade unionist that you’ve got to have downtime as well. Everybody has to have downtime.
Angela Rayner responds to Ibiza video backlash
“But I do take my job really seriously and like to talk about what I’m doing to help other people.”
Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries was among those who criticised the video, saying Ms Rayner had “demeaned her office”.
However, former Conservative cabinet minister Michael Gove backed Ms Rayner, saying: “It’s a tradition for secretaries of state in the department.”
Mr Gove was famously filmed dancing at a nightclub in Aberdeen in the early hours of the morning in August 2021.
