Boris Johnson doesn’t have an afternoon nap like Winston Churchill, Downing Street insists

Downing Street today took issue with claims that Boris Johnson likes to take a “nap” in the middle of the afternoon.

Allegra Stratton, the PM’s new Press Secretary, told reporters: “The prime minister does not have a nap.”

Her rebuttal followed a story in The Times which claimed the Prime Minister, like his hero Winston Churchill, likes to close the door of his office for a quiet doze in between meetings.

Remarkably, the report alleged that time was even set aside in the PM’s diary for him to shut his eyes. It quoted an unnamed insider as saying: “It would not be entirely uncommon in the diary for him to shut the door and have a kip for half an hour or so — a power executive business nap to get him ready for the rest of the day.”

Ms Stratton responded: “Those reports are untrue. He does not have a nap during the day when he’s in Downing Street.”

She stressed that his diary was too busy to allow for power-naps, let alone scheduled ones. “You don’t need me to tell you, his days are jam packed from early in the morning until late at night. There is no gap for anything like that.”

Churchill - whose habits also included dictating from his bathtub while drinking champagne - was a devotee of naps, calling them “blessed oblivion which, even if it only lasts 20 minutes, is sufficient to renew all the vital forces”. However, the wartime premier had the excuse he was up at nights watching the Blitz.

Asked if Mr Johnson was kept up at night feeding his baby son Wilfred, Ms Stratton replied: “I don't know about how many times a night he feeds his son. I hope it's at least once.”

Leonardo da Vinci, Bill Clinton, John F Kennedy and Salvador Dalí were all said to be power-nappers.

Margaret Thatcher famously led the country on six hours sleep a night without dozing off in daytime. Gordon Brown was an infamous early riser.

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