Northern Ireland Secretary Steve Baker, who is defending the 4214 majority, told The Mirror’s Rishi Sunak MPs it was fine to book leave before the snap election was called.
A Tory minister has been accused of resigning after flying to Greece instead of campaigning in his marginal constituency.
Northern Ireland Secretary Steve Baker defiantly told The Mirror that he had continued with his holiday plans despite Rishi Sunak calling a snap election. He said that before he booked the break, he and other MPs had been assured by the Prime Minister that he would be fine to go to the beach this week.
Labor says it is a sign that MPs have given up on their bid for re-election. Mr Baker has a narrow majority of just 4,214 and a leaked recording reveals he admitted earlier this month he could lose his seat.
His Labor opponent Emma Reynolds told The Mirror: “I am amazed that Steve Baker has decided to go on holiday in the middle of the general election campaign. They clearly don’t care about their constituents.
“It’s time for a change in Wycombe. I will be fighting for every vote day in and day out during this campaign to ensure a better future for Wycombe.”
Speaking to The Mirror from Vasiliki, where temperatures reached 28C yesterday, Mr Baker admitted some might struggle to fly away. But he insisted he was working on his campaign and denied defying the Prime Minister.
The minister defended his decision not to cancel his holiday plans, saying: “The prime minister told everyone we could go on holiday and then called early elections. So I decided to do my campaign in Greece.”
Asked if voters would be angered by his decision to fly out, he said: “My experience is that when I talk to people who are quite keen to vote for me, they say, ‘Good for you’.” I’ve been campaigning for months and my wife deserves her husband to go on a much needed break, it’s the only holiday we have planned for the summer.”
He denied it was a sign of displeasure or throwing in the towel. Mr Baker stated: “It’s just a sign when (Mr Sunak) told everyone when they asked him ‘can you go on holiday’ that we booked a holiday.” He admitted that “one or two” people had a problem with him leaving and said it was “unconventional”.
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It is unclear whether the other Conservatives left after being given the prime minister’s blessing before the election was called. Parliament was supposed to be in recess this week, and most expected the country to go to the polls only in the fall.
Mr Baker said he did not know whether others had continued with holiday plans despite the Prime Minister desperately touring the country touting votes. He said: “I suspect that if they did, they didn’t have the guts to say it. But I’d rather be honest with the public.”
A Labor source said the break showed Mr Baker had “given up his seat”. A source said: “Tory ministers are giving up after 14 years of chaos and are abandoning ship in droves. It is time for change, with a changed Labor Party that will fight tirelessly for every vote.”
It comes after The Mirror released a recording of Mr Baker speaking to campaigners earlier this month. He was met with laughter when he told an audience at the right-wing Adam Smith Institute: “I’m 53, if I lose my seat next time, I’ll be 58 next time and I’ll tell you I’ll be a beach.”
And last week he told LBC radio that he would spend his time “skydiving, riding motorbikes, [and] fast catamaran cruise” if they lose their seat.