Beleaguered Rishi Sunak on a wing and a prayer – and now a fasting regime

Rishi Sunak, who is said to be on a weekly 36-hour fasting regime, is battling on all fronts to improve dire electoral polls ahead of the general elections. Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images

Nearly halfway through the weekly 36-hour fast and tempers were fraying. First the news that the Iceland boss, Richard Walker, had jumped ship to Labour and then an endless series of complaints from rightwing Tories about plans to ban disposable vapes and introduce an age limit on buying cigarettes.

“FFS,” said Rishi Sunak. “Just for once, I was trying to start the week with a good news story. You’d have thought that trying to stop young people from killing themselves would be a no-brainer. But no. Turns out there’s no pleasing some people. So we’ve just ended up with more blue-on-blue action.”