Chiantishire to Cape Cod: holiday MPs vote for seats in the sun

It's the end of term time at Westminster and MPs, no doubt exhausted by their gruelling labours of the last few months, now have to make that most crucial decision - where to go on holiday to recharge their batteries.

As they gather up their beach towels and sun block, one of the main debates within Tony Blair's team appears to be - should it be Tuscany or Majorca? William Hague's Shadow Cabinet, still shocked by the election meltdown, are dispersing to a variety of locations between the US and Yorkshire.

The Prime Minister and his family are off tomorrow for a 10-day break at the villa of the Paymaster General, Geoffrey Robinson, in San Gimignano, Tuscany, where they went last year. Facilities at the 10-acre estate, worth pounds 3m, include a 45ft swimming pool and a floodlit tennis court.

Also going to Tuscany is the employment minister, Andrew Smith, while the Culture Secretary, Chris Smith, is already in northern Italy. And it is not just British social democrats who are tempted by Chiantishire; Lionel Jospin, who led the Centre-Left to power in France is due to stay in Siena.

Bucking the trend is David Blunkett, who will be holidaying at his usual venue, northern Majorca - held by those in the know to be the "real" Majorca. "The problem with Tuscany," Mr Blunkett declared, "is that you keep meeting ministers." However, the Employment Secretary's office is keen to maintain the discipline and unity that has been the new Government's hallmark. An adviser murmured: " It's just a difference in taste, not a policy difference". In any event, one colleague Mr Blunkett may not be able to avoid is his colleague Gavin Strang, the transport minister, who is also Majorca bound.

John Prescott, however, is having no truck with foreign jaunts. A spokesman for the Deputy Prime Minister said: "He has no plans to be out of the country in August and he will keep working." If a crisis was to arise during the silly season, he would be in situ.

Also staying in Britain is Frank Dobson, the Health Secretary, who is taking a cottage holiday in Northern England. The Secretary of State for Wales, Ron Davies, will be loyal to the principality and take his vacation there.

The Foreign Secretary is taking his holiday at home, while the Home Secretary prefers a foreign spot. After his burst of international statesmanship Robin Cook says he is happy to relax in the New Forest in Hampshire. Jack Straw will be taking his break in France, as will Margaret Beckett, President of the Board of Trade, who will be on a caravan trip with husband Leo.

Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is going to Cape Cod in Massachusetts. But will he be taking his fiancee Sarah Macauley? The response from spokesman Charles Whelan was: "None of your .... business".

New Tory leader William Hague was not so coy. His fiancee Ffion Jenkins will be most definitely at his side when he goes walking in the Yorkshire Dales before a trip to the US. "Then he will be on a tour of the country to spread his message of reform in the party", said a Central Office spokesman.

The former agriculture minister Douglas Hogg will be trying to forget the savaging he took over the BSE crisis by climbing at the Aletsch Glacier in the Alps. He says he has set a target of scaling five 4,000m peaks.

The Liberal Democrat leader, Paddy Ashdown, will be visiting his new grandson in Sens, near Auxerre, before going on to the family cottage in Burgundy for three weeks.

But the last word on holidays perhaps belongs to the woman who surprisingly emerged as the Commons' feather-ruffler-in-chief earlier this year. Former prisons minister Ann Widdecombe, who helped scupper her former boss Michael Howard's Tory leadership bid, robustly declared: " I am staying at home to attack the Government on all fronts. Someone has got to do it".