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David Cameron: I have working parent's guilt

The Prime Minister said he did not go to enough parents' evenings

Kiran Moodley
Tuesday 17 March 2015 11:27 GMT
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Prime Minister David Cameron.
Prime Minister David Cameron. (Ben Gurr | WPA Pool | Getty Images)

David Cameron has said he sometimes feels guilty about not spending enough time with his three children, but that he tries to be both Prime Minister and "a reasonable dad".

The Conservative leader was speaking to Susanna Reid for ITV's Good Morning Britain in the garden of 10 Downing Street when she asked him, "Do you have working parent's guilt?"

Cameron confessed: "Sometimes. I take them to school maybe once a fortnight. Sometimes that slips and I feel sad.

"That sort of time; taking them into school, chatting to the teacher, finding out how they’re getting on… You know, I love all that."

The Prime Minister said he did not go to as many parents' evenings as he should do but that he still managed to have good one-on-one moments with each of his three children. He said he does "quite a lot of things" with his eldest child, Nancy, and takes Arthur Elwen to the football. He also recalled a recent day out with his youngest child, Florence.

"Actually at the weekend, really nice, I took Florence and we went shopping and went to see Shawn the Sheep, the movie, which was brilliant. I thoroughly recommend it. We had a lovely day together.

"I think when you've got three children, spending some time with them individually - I really like doing that because that’s when they open up more."

He admitted he missed many things about being a full-time parent but that he tries to be "a reasonable dad."

In the interview with Reid, Cameron said that his children were sometimes teased about his job at school but that they were beginning to understand what their father's job was and were "keen that the blue team win" in May.

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