Sunak given taste of Navy life on HMS Diamond

Rishi Sunak became the first prime minister in decades to stay overnight on a Royal Navy vessel, as he travelled to Sweden for a security summit.

Mr Sunak got a taste of Navy life, as he spent a night aboard the HMS Diamond ahead of the Joint Expeditionary Force summit on the Swedish island of Gotland.

The Prime Minister was up early to serve breakfast to sailors, dishing out hash browns and tomatoes to the ship’s company.

The last prime minister to spend the night aboard such a vessel, according to Navy records, was Labour’s Harold Wilson.

As he helped serve up a cooked breakfast, Mr Sunak joked about having been woken up so early alongside the crew.

He also sat down for a chat with some of HMS Diamond’s personnel over breakfast.

“You have had a very busy few weeks of it,” the Prime Minister told them as he served breakfast.

He told the crew he had “respect and admiration” for them and their work.

In a meeting with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Mr Sunak spoke briefly about the experience aboard.

“The first time a British prime minister has done it in 50 years, slept overnight – the last time it happened was half a century ago,” he said.