Boris Johnson reveals he walks his dog while still in his boxer shorts

The Prime Minister has revealed that despite a looming Brexit deadline, the prorogation of Parliament and party defections, he still sleeps soundly at night.

Boris Johnson said the soporific effects of poetry is part of his nightly regimen to help him fall asleep.

Every night, Mr Johnson lulls himself to sleep by reading poetry which sends him “out like a light”, he said in an interview with the Mail on Sunday,

If his method of falling asleep is unusual, then his morning routine may be even more so.

Just after dawn, still wearing his boxer shorts, the PM takes his new dog Dilyn for a walk around the garden at No 10 to focus his mind and prepare for the day ahead.

Dilyn is a Jack Russell-cross puppy recently adopted by Mr Johnson and his partner Carrie Symonds.

There is a long history of politicians having a four-legged friend close at hand.

In February 2017 Lennu, a Boston terrier owned by Finland’s president Sauli Niinisto, briefly became an internet sensation.

Former US president Barack Obama was often pictured with his pet Bo, a Portuguese water dog.

Russian president Vladimir Putin likes to be pictured in the wild, sometimes accompanied by his dogs Yume, who is an Akita, and Bulgarian shepherd Buffy.

Millie, an English springer spaniel owned by former US president George Bush Snr, famously had puppies while resident in the White House.