Rishi Sunak has insisted he is not “tetchy” as he battles to turn around his plummeting poll ratings.
The prime minister mounted a defence against claims he is irritable and bad-tempered, suggesting instead that he is “passionate” and gets “frustrated” when things do not work the way he wants them to.
After his popularity slumped to the lowest point since he took over as PM, Mr Sunak hit back to say “I am fighting for the things I believe in”.
He developed a reputation as tetchy due to his sometimes defensive style when questioned by journalists.
On a visit to Japan this year, the PM snapped at the BBC’s political editor for asking questions about former home secretary Suella Braverman instead of the G7 summit.
And last month he became embroiled in a spat with the Greek prime minister, cancelling a planned meeting after Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke about the Elgin Marbles.
But in an interview with The Spectator, Mr Sunak was asked about claims he is tetchy, and said: “I don’t understand that.”
The PM said: “I am fighting for the things I believe in. There’s nothing tetchy. But I am passionate. When things are not working the way I want them to work, of course I’m going to be frustrated.”
Mr Sunak is battling rebellions on both sides of the Conservative Party over his Rwanda deportation plan and has seen his personal popularity plummet.
The PM’s approval rating now sits below Boris Johnson’s before he was forced out of office and is falling toward lows plumbed by his predecessor Liz Truss during her disastrous stint in Downing Street.
The Tories as a whole also trail Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party by around 20 points in the polls, adding to the headache for Mr Sunak.
Elsewhere in the interview, Mr Sunak stood by his pledge to “stop the boats”, insisting it is a “straightforward phrase” and there is “no acceptable amount of illegal migration”.
In a bid to quell the rebellion, led by right-wingers including Brexiteer Mark Francois, Mr Sunak said: “What the country wants is a practical government that is making a difference to their lives and changing things for the better, not a debating society.
“People are frustrated that the pace of change is not fast enough. I get that. I am working night and day, tirelessly, to keep making a difference.”
