Boris Johnson's diary contains 'power nap' time

Prime Minister Boris Johnson making a speech - Credit: PA

Boris Johnson’s official schedule includes time for him to “power nap” during the day, a Downing Street insider has claimed.

Times Radio reported an anonymous source as saying that 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,” before he conducted his duties as prime minister.

The time carved out in Johnson’s schedule was described as a “power executive business nap” to help Johnson get “ready for the rest of the day”.

The move appears to echo Winston Churchill, who once claimed: “Nature has not intended mankind to work from eight in the morning until midnight without that refreshment of blessed oblivion which, even if it only lasts twenty minutes, is sufficient to renew all the vital forces”.

Another claimed that Johnson is regularly late for his first meeting of the day, and that “he keeps his own time”.

But a spokesperson for Number 10 dismissed the claims that he napped during the day, saying his diary is “literally full of meetings”.

“He is hard at work and has a very full and busy schedule,” they added.

Last year it was reported by a Sunday newspaper that Johnson was taking naps for up to three hours, while others suggest he is also spending considerable time on the tennis courts.