Sir Keir Starmer has complained of not having had a day off since the General Election more than two months ago.

The Prime Minister, whose party swept to power after the poll on July 4, described his schedule as “relentless” in remarks published to coincide with the start of Labour’s conference in Liverpool.

Since gaining the keys to Downing Street, Sir Keir has visited the US, Italy, Ireland, France and Germany as PM, but was forced to cancel his summer holiday because of the riots that rocked the UK in July and August.

Sir Keir said making time was important because you are a better decision-maker for having spent time with family.

He told The Observer: “It would have been good to have got away over the summer for a break, if I’m honest, because we’ve been running at this for a long time.”

The Prime Minister said while the General Election campaigning lasted a little over six weeks, his party had been in campaign mode since at least the start of the year.

Starmer added: “I haven’t had a day off since Rishi stood out there in the rain without his umbrella. I also know that this is not a good thing. Everybody, including politicians, needs to get away from time to time to have holidays.”

Sir Keir’s message comes at the end of a turbulent week for the PM with rows over his and his wife Lady Victoria Starmer’s taking donations from wealthy Labour donor Lord Waheed Alli.

Donations “in kind” have also been listed in registers of interest for Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir’s number two, Angela Rayner. They have all said they won’t take any more donations of clothing.

His talk of taking a holiday on top of Labour leaders’ lavish gifts will anger pensioners who face a cold, harsh winter after the Government snatched their winter fuel payments away from them to plug a disputed £22billion black hole in the public finances this year.

In a series of interviews with left-leaning newpapers sympathetic to Labour, Sir Keir acknowledged the damaging impact of the row over clothing donations and of internal fighting within his Downing Street operation.

Sir Keir has been grappling with a row within his No. 10 operation after reports of tensions between Chief of Staff Sue Gray and senior officials.

The leaked disclosure showed Ms Gray is paid £170,000, some £3,000 more than the Prime Minister, and has added to the rumours of behind-closed-door difficulties in Downing Street.

He acknowledged the destabilising nature of the row, telling the Observer: “It is my job to do something about that and I accept that responsibility. And that just damages everybody.”

The PM also signalled his Government would not go down the road of austerity, telling the Sunday Mirror cuts did a huge amount of damage to Britain’s public services.

In a bid to counter suggestions he has only offered doom and gloom since coming to power, The Observer reported Sir Keir intends to set out a more positive vision for the future under Labour.

He told the publication: “I want to answer the ‘why’ question as well as the ‘what’ question. We do need to say why and explain and set out and describe the better Britain that this ladders up to.”

An early signal of his optimistic intent came as he told a Saturday night reception in Liverpool he wanted his Government to be compared with post-war leader Clement Attlee’s transformational administration.