Angela Rayner rejected criticism of her dancing in Ibiza while on holiday.
The Deputy Prime Minister stressed the importance of downtime and said she tried to be a good boss.
Ms Rayner was filmed recently dancing in the DJ Booth at a superclub in Ibizia.
The Cabinet minister was spotted jumping, dancing and cheering at Hï Ibiza in front of a large crowd as smoke cannons erupted. A remix of Kimbra’s Somebody That I Used To Know was playing in the background.
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”.
Ms Rayner, who has spoken about how she enjoys 12-hour long raving sessions in the past, showed off some of her moves as she boogied alongside Australian music producer Paul Fisher, known as DJ Fisher, in the huge Ibiza club.
“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,” she told Times Radio on Thursday.
“We have all had a dance at one time in our lives.”
She quipped: “It’s subjective to whether I can dance or not.”
Parliament returned on Monday after a month-long recess and Ms Rayner has faced some criticism over the dancing clip, including from former Tory MP Nadine Dorries who described it as “ill-judged” and “utterly adolescent”.
But Ms Rayner stressed on Sky News: “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.
She added: “I would say that the culture in Parliament and Westminster is not ideal for having a work-life balance for my staff.
“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.”
She said that a new workers’ rights bill will be introduced in Parliament within weeks.
The Labour deputy leader has been described as the party’s new Red Queen and has hinted at her love for raving in the past.
In an interview with the Mirror last summer the politician explained she had spent a night of a recent trip to Spain partying from four in the afternoon to five in the morning.
During the interview at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last August the 44-year-old said she was “proud” of her long party sessions.
She told crowds: “The girls I was raving with are half my age, and I was like ‘I’m a grandma’.
“I was proud of that. 4pm I started, and I got home at six o’clock in the morning when the sun was shining and I was like: ‘Yes, I can do it.’”
Ms Rayner added: “You’ve got to go with the music, the vibes. You’ve got to be in the moment and it takes you.”
