HIGH Wycombe's candidate Steve Baker has said there is "no chance" of him giving up his election campaign after facing harsh criticism of his decision to continue his holiday in Greece during parliamentary recess.

Mr Baker, who was the MP for Wycombe, has been Northern Ireland Minister since September 2022. 

Mr Baker is currently in Greece where he told the Bucks Free Press he will be "working" on his campaign from there. He will be back in the UK on Sunday.

The Wycombe candidate said: "I know my opponents would like me to give up but there’s no chance.

"The recess is normally a good time to go on holiday and the election timing was a surprise. So I am working here.

"My campaign began months ago and rests on 14 years of working for Wycombe, of which I am proud.

"The one week which was supposed to be recess. It interrupts my sprint to implement Safeguarding the Union before the Autumn election...

"I will be back soon enough."

Ex-cabinet minister for the Conservatives Rory Stewart criticised Steve Baker for being on holiday during the lead up to the General Election.

He said on the Rest Is Politics podcast show on Tuesday, May 28: "with Steve baker he has a majority of 5,000 in High Wycombe and its very very difficult to hold the seat so campaigning from Greece basically means he's giving up." 

The criticism of MPs comes as Mr Baker claims Rishi Sunak’s plan to introduce national service to get young people "out of their bubbles" was "sprung on" government officials.

The Prime Minister announced his “bold” plan to bring back a form of compulsory national service on Sunday, May 26.

However, Steve Baker, who is also minister of state for Northern Ireland, criticised the plans on X (formerly Twitter) this week, alleging that they had been “sprung on” Tory candidates.

He suggested if it had been a government policy rather than a Conservative proposal, he would have had a say because of the particular sensitivities around military service in Northern Ireland.