Rishi Sunak goes out running in central London with Hardest Geezer Russ Cook
Rishi Sunak has said he finds the days where he has to take national security decisions the most stressful during a run with ‘Hardest Geezer’ Russ Cook.
Speaking while out on a jog with Cook, known for being the first person to run the entire length of Africa, the Prime Minister said those decisions weighed most heavily on him.
In a clip released by No10, when asked by Cook what he found most stressful, he said: “Generally the most stressful days relate not to all the stuff you read about and all the politics, and the things going on here, but the most stressful days relate to security things, always.
“Because people’s lives are at risk or I’m asking our soldiers, our Armed Forces to put their lives at risk, as we saw the other weekend. So those are always the most stressful days.”
It appeared to be a reference to British fighter jets shooting down drones fired by Iran towards Israel earlier this month.
Asked how he dealt with being unpopular with a section of the public, he added: “You just have to accept that.
“I always say at the end of day if I look myself in the mirror and know I’m working as I can doing what I believe is right for the country then you know what, the rest is the rest.”
The five minute clip showed Mr Sunak and Cook run from Horse Guards Parade through St James’s Park to Buckingham Palace, before ending up at No10 Downing Street.
While several passers-by stopped to congratulate Cook on his recent record-breaking feat, which raised more than £1m for charity, one member of the public also appeared to tell Mr Sunak he was “doing a good job” - despite his languishing poll ratings.
A Standard poll earlier this week showed nine out of 10 voters think their personal finances are getting worse or no better, underlining the challenge facing Mr Sunak’s Conservatives in the dwindling time before the next election.
The stark finding in an Ipsos poll reflects a long period of high interest rates, stubborn inflation and anaemic GDP growth.
A date for the next general election has yet to be set, with Mr Sunak saying his “working assumption” is that it will be called in the latter half of this year.
It comes as a leading polling expert Sir John Curtice warned the Tories are too far behind in the polls to have a path to victory in July or earlier.
