Sir Keir Starmer has revealed his “loathing” of Boris Johnson - but said he is on better terms with Rishi Sunak and has his personal phone number.

The Labour leader said he “really couldn’t give a toss” about Mr Johnson insisting he cannot win the next election and nicknaming him ‘Crasheroonie Snoozefest’.

Sir Keir made the comments, which were quoted by Politico’s London Playbook, at a recording of comedian Matt Forde’s Political Party podcast on Monday.

His press secretary confirmed to The Telegraph on Tuesday he had spoken directly about his “loathing” of the former prime minister.

Sir Keir said: “Is there anybody who’s had any relationship with Johnson — you know, in any sense of the word — who hasn’t ended up in the gutter?”

'We’re not texting about football'

However, he contrasted his intense dislike towards Mr Johnson, noted by commentators during their bad-tempered clashes at Prime Minister’s Questions, with what appeared to be a more amicable working relationship with Mr Sunak.

“He phoned me the day he became prime minister, gave me his personal number, and we said we would work together on things like Ukraine and if there was a terrorist incident.”

However, Sir Keir added: “We’re not texting about the Southampton/Arsenal scores.”

Sir Keir is an obsessive Arsenal fan and last month watched their local derby against Tottenham with David Lammy, the Spurs-supporting foreign secretary, while Mr Sunak supports his hometown club of Southampton.

Sir Keir also jokingly suggested his daughter had claimed she would not be joining him in No 10 in the event of a Labour victory at the next poll, with the party between 20 and 30 points ahead in the opinion polls.

“She said to me, ‘if you win the election, would you move into Downing Street? … Just to let you know, I’m not coming.’”

 'He’s a bit like David Beckham'

He also disclosed he had sat in on a Zoom focus group during which he was discussed by swing voters.

“I had to pour a large glass of white wine when they started ‘what did you think of Keir Starmer’,” he laughed. “There was this moment where one woman said ‘well, he’s a bit like David Beckham.’

He admitted he continued to harbour some differences of opinion with Angela Rayner, his deputy, but insisted she continued to stand by him.

“I’m not pretending we agree on everything, but whenever my back’s against the wall, Angela will get in touch,” he said. “She’ll be there, absolutely supporting.”

In an interview of her own last weekend, Ms Rayner said she had a tendency to “overshare” while “Keir undershares”.

However, she was adamant he “has got a plan to improve people’s lives… and [you can] trust him to do that”.

A Labour source confirmed the accuracy of the quotes featured by Politico ahead of the release of the full podcast later on Tuesday.