The annual Rehab Parliamentary Pancake Race will see Brentford & Isleworth MP Ruth Cadbury battle it out to gain a hat-trick victory and crown the MPs the top tossers this Shrove Tuesday, February 13.
Supported by Lyle’s Golden Syrup, the relay race will see a team of MPs which includes Ms Cadbury, a group of Lords and members of the media, including TV personalities such as the BBC’s James Landale and ITV News’ Lucrezia Millarini, fight for victory.
The event attracts hundreds of locals and tourists who flock to Westminster’s Victoria Tower Gardens see the competitors in their pinnies and chef hats raise awareness of the work of Rehab, a disability charity that champions diversity and offers care services for over 6,000 disabled people.
MP Cadbury said: “So often in Parliament, we MPs are at each other’s throats, but the Rehab Parliamentary Pancake Race is an opportunity to show that we can come together for the right cause.”
Though the race is not entirely friendly and with the MPs having won for the past two years, there is as much focus on settling old scores as there is with raising awareness.
“Shrove Tuesday is a day of penitence and I hope that colleagues on the media team in particular will take the opportunity to atone for their many sins,” Ms Cadbury continued, in fighting spirit.
Pancake race veteran and ITV newscaster Alastair Stewart OBE was named as the Race Official Starter, and overseer of the parliamentary principles.
He said: “I have been jostled by peers, tripped by MPs and sledged by Parliamentary supporters. In fact, I have flirted with a coronary. This year I am delighted to hang up my hat and apron to be the official starter for the Rehab Parliamentary Pancake Race 2018.
“I will broach no cheating and will call out the bad whilst praising the good. I will award medals to the winners, a smile to the runners-up and give wooden spoons to the losers.”
Tate & Lyle Sugars, who have had a factory in East London since 1883, produce one of the nation’s favourite toppings, which means there is no surprise they have chosen to support the pancake-flipping event.
Gerald Mason, Senior Vice President of the company, said: “It is wonderful to be able to support a charity which has been providing care and support to those living with the effects of acquired brain injury, getting them back on their feet and back to work.”
