BORIS Johnson is a “born winner” and has been likened to serial winner Pep Guardiola, the boss of Manchester City football club.

The comparison by Michael Gove was made despite the Prime Minister having recently lost all six of the Commons votes he has faced during his premiership thus far and been on the losing side this week in the prorogation case before the UK Supreme Court.

But the Cabinet Office Minister insisted his Cabinet colleague – whom he once said was not up to being Prime Minister – was a “born winner”.

“It is only fair to say that Boris is the Pep Guardiola of British politics," declared Mr Gove.

The comparison drew plenty of disagreements on social media, including from Match of the Day host Gary Lineker.

"If Pep Guardiola had a run of results like Boris Johnson, he'd be sacked," insisted the presenter of Match of the Day, who won football’s Golden Boot in 1986.

Mr Gove, who was defeated by Mr Johnson in the Tory leadership race, sought to play down the impact of the Supreme Court ruling that the suspension of Parliament was unlawful.

"As ever the Prime Minister is optimistic and committed to doing the best for the country," the Scot told LBC.

Asked about the court "humiliation," he said: "Words like humiliation are good journalistic hyperbole."

In response to a question on whether the PM's losing streak would be longer than Tottenham Hotspur's, Mr Gove replied: "No, look, the Prime Minister is a born winner...He was Mayor of London twice; he beat Ken Livingstone twice."