Baroness Bra-bados!
Or how Cameron’s small business tsar has jetted off to the Caribbean island three times in three months
WHEELING her designer suitcases and wearing large sunglasses, lingerie tycoon Michelle Mone arrives in Barbados – for the third time in as many months. Not bad going for someone who carries the heavy responsibility of being David Cameron’s small business tsar and was recently appointed to the House of Lords by him.
Her fixation with the Caribbean island seems obvious – her new boyfriend Stefan Soroka is a golf professional at one of its exclusive resorts.
Yesterday a giddy Baroness Mone, 44, wrote on Twitter that after three years she is ‘madly in love’. On Friday she posted ‘off to see my guy tomorrow’ with a kissing emoticon.
She also seemed to suggest that she might be spending even more time on the island, posting a tweet which included the words: ‘House hunting #Barbados.’
The founder of racy underwear firm
‘Work hard, don’t look for excuses’
Ultimo was controversially appointed to the House of Lords in October and has not spoken in any debates since.
Despite her work commitments, she looked relaxed on Saturday as she arrived in Barbados in a long black off-the-shoulder jumpsuit that left her bra straps on show.
The businesswoman is back in the country only a few weeks after her last trip. She spent Christmas and New Year there with golfer Mr Soroka, who is based at the £1,150a-night Sandy Lane resort.
They also spent time together on the island at the beginning of November, shortly after Lady Mone had voted to cut tax credits for millions of families.
The vote was one of her first as a baroness and came days after the former model angered many by tweeting: ‘If you really want something, really work hard, don’t look for excuses, be proactive, have a can-do attitude & never ever give up, you will succeed.’
David Cameron made her a small business tsar in August, responsible for travelling around the country speaking to everyone from ex- convicts to single parents about setting up their own companies.
She was also asked to compile a report about entrepreneurship and the difficulties of setting up small businesses in deprived areas for Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith.
The decision to make her a Tory peer in October was seen as a reward after she opposed Scottish independence and supported the Conservatives at the General Election.
But figures from campaign group TheyWorkForYou.com show she is yet to speak in any debates in the House of Lords, although she has attended almost eight in ten votes.
The Glaswegian mother-ofthree split up with her husband Michael in 2011. After the split, she was linked with a string of celebrities including Australian cricketer Shane Warne and footballer Robbie Savage.
But it seems that she has found love with Mr Soroka.
Each time she has visited him in Barbados they have been pictured cuddling up together on the beach.
Yesterday she wrote on Twitter: ‘You can turn your life around. Sold Ultimo, new businesses are doing exceptionally well & after 3 years madly in love.’
Her statement comes after reports that one of her companies, MJM Media Ltd, set up to oversee her speaking engagements and ‘mentoring’ courses and manage her UTan self-tanning lotion company, is struggling.