Theresa May forced to deny that she fears being 'stabbed in the back' by Tory rivals

Theresa May has denied that she worries about being "stabbed in the back" during an interview with Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on This Morning.

The Prime Minister was repeatedly asked by Mr Schofield if she was happy in her job and how she felt about headlines suggesting she is "beleaguered".

Asked if she felt secure in the job, Mrs May replied: “Yes. I’m doing a job and I’m going to jolly well get on and do it. And what drives me in doing it is not what’s written but what people out there want the government to do. That’s the important thing.”

She insisted that she was not worried about being betrayed by her colleagues: “No, for me it’s all about what I’m doing to deliver for the public.

"That’s why I was on doorsteps on my own constituency on Saturday afternoon talking to people, hearing about the issues that really matter to them. That’s what drives me – that’s what politics is about.”

Mrs May insisted that she is enjoying her job: "Throughout my life, whenever I’ve taken on jobs I’ve never thought: oh, it’s going to be like this or like that. I just get on and do it. There’s huge issues to be dealing with but it’s worthwhile.”

The Prime Minister conceded that her job got in the way of relaxing in front of the television, saying she has yet to watch a whole box set.

"I never get to the end of a box-set,” she said. "It's a job where you are constantly thinking about it and obviously anything can happen at any point which means that you have to really get involved.

"I enjoy things like cooking and walking and so forth."

Appearing on This Morning ahead of her official launch of a review into tertiary education and university funding, the Prime Minister stressed her desire to tackle the “stigma” associated with technical education.

She said: "For a long time I have worried about the fact that, in this country, we're very good at saying academic education is good for everybody, but we've never but sufficient focus on technical education.

"I'm afraid I think some people think technical education happens to other people’s children and not their own.

"We need to get rid of the stigma attached to tech education.”