Sir Keir Starmer « badly needs a holiday » as the Prime Minister is feeling the « relentless strain » of the job, friends close to him have claimed.
Sources who know him have spoken out, adding that a troubled start to Sir Keir’s premiership means that he « needs a lot of soothing and a lot of buoying up at the moment ».
Downing Street is believed to have said that the Prime Minister’s mood is nothing other than sky-high.
However, a friend told MailOnline: « He talks a good game about needing to take the unpopular decisions now, and expecting this resistance, but I don’t think he realised quite how unpopular they – or he – would be. »
A senior Downing Street official said: « Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair managed to last a decade, but they were in a different league – and the world was a different place. »
They added: « At any one time you can be simultaneously deciding whether to authorise an attack on a terrorist target by studying live drone footage, while welcoming the Girl Guide Association to a reception at No 10 and clearing a statement of tribute to a dead celebrity. Every minute of every day is like that. »
It is thought that the Prime Minister is planning to take his first holiday since the General Election over the New Year.
Sources added that one of the reasons why Sir Keir did not want to fire Sue Gray as his Chief of Staff in October was that she limited his workload by restricting access to him.
The mandarin has been handed a peerage by the Prime Minister.
It followed weeks of infighting, which is believed to have been fuelled by the revelation that Gray was being paid more than the Prime Minister, receiving £170,000.
Earlier this week, Ipsos reported that 61% of Britons say they are dissatisfied with Keir Starmer. This was his worst performance as Labour leader.
It comes as the Government cuts winter fuel payments to pensioners, increases inheritance taxes on farmers and has decided not to compensate WASPI women.
In addition, overall dissatisfaction with the Government remained high at 70%.
Economic optimism « continues to deteriorate », with nearly a third (65%) expecting the economy to get worse over the next year. This was the worst score since the end of 2022.
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