The coronavirus pandemic has proved that “people who went to Eton” are unable to run the country, the actor Danny Dyer has said.

The EastEnders star said the “little group” who attended the Windsor boarding school have had their chance in power and it is time for “working-class people” to take over.

The 43-year-old said people who “have lived a real life” and are “in touch with what’s going on” should be given responsibility for how the UK is run.

Appearing on BBC Breakfast alongside his daughter Dani, Dyer was asked how easy he was finding it to obey COVID-19 restrictions.

He said: “It’s very confusing. It’s almost perfect to break rules really because it is hard to understand what the rules are. Just keep them simple and then people will abide by it.

“We want to get out of this as quickly as possible but as confusing as it is, it just makes it so difficult.

“My one rant would be that we must learn now that the people who went to Eton can’t run this country.

“They’ve done it, they’ve tried to do it and this little small group who all went to the same school in the same class, it doesn’t work.

“So I feel we need some working-class people, people who have lived a real life, people that are in touch with what’s going on in reality, to maybe come to the front now and start to get involved in how this country is run.”

Eton College counts Prime Minister Boris Johnson, former PM David Cameron and MP Jacob Rees-Mogg among its former students.

In 2019, research found that nearly two-thirds of Mr Johnson’s cabinet were privately educated – twice as high as Theresa May’s 2016 cabinet.

Asked whether he would ever go into politics full-time, Dyer said: “No, darling, I’m too busy.

“I have got a game show on at the moment, I’ve got another podcast with my daughter, and of course I am in the greatest soap that has ever been, so I am all right for the minute.

“So let’s just watch the government unravel themselves, I think.

“Let’s just try and stay safe and try and not catch this thing, and on the other side I’m sure we are all going to be better, stronger, more considerate people for it.”

The father-daughter duo appeared on the show to promote their unscripted Spotify Original podcast, Sorted With The Dyers.

Dyer previously shared his views on politics on the talk show Good Evening Britain in June 2018.

During that appearance, Dyer labelled Mr Cameron a “t***” for calling the EU referendum.