Boris Johnson is “nothing like” his political hero Winston Churchill, one of those closest to the man who led the nation during the Second World War has claimed.

Having grown up hearing his father recite Churchill’s speeches, Mr Johnson is an impassioned fan of the wartime prime minister – and went on to write a biography of him during his time as London mayor in 2014.

However, despite regular comparisons having been made between Mr Johnson and his political idol, Churchill’s secretary Lady Williams – who worked for him during his run of peacetime leadership between 1949 and 1955 – has said they bear no comparison.

“Boris is not remotely like Winston Churchill,” she said in an interview with The Times. “I haven’t met Boris, but Churchill was meticulous about truthfulness and straightforward talk.

“There’s no similarity there at all, no.”

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The pair lived on the same London street Evening Standard/Getty Images Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Prime Minister Winston Churchill kisses Queen Elizabeth II's hand as she leaves 10 Downing Street in London, after a dinner on 4 April 1955 Getty Images Winston Churchill: Life in pictures Winston Churchill Winston Churchill at the christening of his granddaughter, Charlotte Soames at Westerham Parish Church, Kent on 6 November 1954. Left to right: godparents Fitzroy MacLean and Diana Churchill, Sir Winston Churchill, Lady Clementine Churchill, Christopher Soames and his wife Mary Churchill. 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She is not the first of those close to Churchill to baulk at mentioning him in the same breath as Mr Johnson.

Earlier this month, Nicholas Soames, Churchill’s grandson, who sits as MP for mid-Sussex, said his colleague was “nothing like Winston Churchill”, adding: “I don’t think anyone has called Boris a diplomat or statesman.”

His comments came shortly after he became one of 21 to be ejected from the party for defying Mr Johnson on a vote that aimed to rule out a no-deal Brexit.