Starmer says he would never restack dishwasher for wife in poke at Sunak’s ‘cringey’ chores video

Sir Keir Starmer has poked fun at Rishi Sunak in response to his “cringy” interview with his wife Akshata Murty.

Earlier this month, the Prime Minister was interviewed by Grazia about household jobs ahead of International Women’s Day (March 8), including who cooks more and who is more likely to make the bed.

Mr Sunak took the lead on answering the questions, jumping in to criticise Ms Murty’s dishwasher stacking and his children’s lack of dog-walking.

In an interview with the same publication on Tuesday, the Labour leader took aim at the Prime Minister, saying he doesn’t “check or criticise my wife” unlike Mr Sunak.

“We [Starmer and his wife Victoria] work things through together. We don’t really bicker. I’m not saying there’s never a cross word. I don’t think that’s believable,” Sir Keir said.

Mr Sunak previously said he rearranges the dishwasher after his wife loads it, which “creates more work”. He also mentioned that it “bugs” him that his wife does not enjoy making the bed.

The Labour leader told Grazia: “I feel I show my human side all the time. Do we all have to stack the dishwasher? Yes, we do. Do we all have to change the bedding? Yes, we do. But I’d never go up and check or criticise my wife when she does it,”

“My wife does it much better than I do and there’s no doubt about that. But happily we don’t live in a household where we go around criticising each other for the chores, we’re just very glad when the other one’s actually done it.”

A clip of the interview with Mr Sunak and Ms Murty went viral on social media earlier this month and was met with mixed reaction.

Some viewers appreciated the Prime Minister showing his more “human” side, while others branded the interview as “cringe” and “weird”.

Mr Sunak labelled his wife’s habit for having plates in her bed when she was younger as “disgusting” and said “That’s me” when asked who is better at loading the dishwasher.

“It requires redoing after you’ve been very enthusiastic…” he told his wife. “It creates more work. And then more goes in as a result.”

Asked about his favourite job around the house, he replied: “Hard choice… dishwasher stacking, making (the) bed? Both have a nice, satisfying ending. Probably the bed.”

Ms Murty conceded that her husband is “the better cook”, although Mr Sunak added: “It’s mainly just breakfast on a Saturday morning – Gordon Ramsay scrambled eggs.”