Rishi Sunak said he has a “tough skin” and suggested that he can “sleep well” at night since entering Downing Street.
Speaking to Piers Morgan on TalkTV, he reflected on the personal toll of life as Prime Minister while admitting that he did not think his daughters believed it was “cool” to have him as a parent.
The Conservative leader insisted that the country was “making progress” under the Tories as he sat down for a lengthy interview with the outspoken broadcaster.
Mr Sunak said: “I think, well, you obviously have to have a tough skin to do this, but I’m fine with that… and you have to have it in this job, right, because to a point everyone always has an opinion, everyone has got a view, and some of it is quite personal.
“My view is, look, if you’re working as hard as you can, if you’re doing what you believe to be right, you are doing it with the right intentions, focusing on the things that matter, then you sleep well at night.”
He added: “I think most fair-minded people recognise that it is difficult, it was difficult when I got the job, but I also think that we are making progress.”
He said that he has a “tough job”, but added: “My job is to crack on, make a difference to people, focus on the things that matter to them, and then ultimately they will judge at the end of the day.”
Mr Sunak also discussed how his daughters view life living in Number 10, acknowledging that it was “probably not very cool” to have a prime minister for a parent.
“I think they are two little girls, I think they know it is a privilege, and they recognise it is a great privilege to live in this building with all the history.
“My younger daughter in particular loves history, she can give a great tour of the building with all the things that happened and all the rooms. So they are lucky enough to appreciate it. They are also young enough that what I do doesn’t massively impact them or bother them.”
Asked if it was “cool” to have him as a father, he said: “I think probably not very cool.
“I had that period before I was doing this job, I had five weeks when I was ‘between jobs’ as someone put it, at the end of the summer and autumn, and then I was very involved in their lives doing school runs every morning, pick-ups, organising snacks, doing the homework – I am not sure that they loved all of that, to be perfectly honest, one needs to find the right balance.
“They are happier with this balance.”
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