Summer break beckons for Rishi Sunak as he faces heat over climate policies

Rishi Sunak is looking forward to a summer break from Thursday

Rishi Sunak will head off this week on his first proper family holiday for four years – but “work-life balance” remains elusive for the embattled Tory leader.

The Prime Minister will head abroad with his wife and daughters for a week from Thursday, his press secretary said.

“The PM will be taking some time off with his family for the first time since he became Chief Secretary to the Treasury almost four years ago,” she said on Monday.

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden will be filling in.

After losing the Tory leadership race last summer to Liz Truss, Mr Sunak managed all of 15 hours in Spain before having to dash back when Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8.

The destination this time is a mystery, but the premier says he likes the weather hot – and his preferred summer reading is Jilly Cooper’s racy equine romances.

However, Mr Sunak could well be sneaking a peek at his work in-tray.

He agrees that work-life balance is “very important, particularly spending time with your family”, the press secretary said.

“Not that he is necessarily a good example of practising what you preach.”

However, Mr Sunak is unlikely to pack his own food and cutlery. His vegetarian mother-in-law has revealed that when she travels abroad, she avoids restaurant kitchenware for fear it might be contaminated with meat.

As the PM heads off, he will leave behind him a raging debate over his climate change policies having announced that the Government would agree to hundreds more gas and oil licences for development schemes in the North Sea and beyond.