To jack in my ‘good graduate job’ and change direction at 24?

Sort out a new job first.

Agree with others here, certainly take some time to think about what it is you’d like to do, where you’d like to live, use your weekends to stretch your wings and visit friends in other cities - but don’t quit until you have your next job/move in the bag. A period of unemployment is not what you need right now!

You're only 24!
Change your job, change your town, change your hair, change your country! Do it all, experiment and try stuff out. If it doesn't work then you've learnt something. Dust yourself down and move on.
Life is (hopefully) too long to be stuck at your age. Do it all before you have responsibilities that make it harder.
Apply for some other jobs in different places and see how life unfolds.
It's out there waiting for you, take it!

Never leave a job without one to go to… however, once you have found an alternative plan, just do it! Life is too short to be stuck somewhere miserable - my first job after my degree was horrible and I hated it. I stayed longer than I should as I felt I had something to prove and when I moved on, I wished I’d done it the year earlier. You don’t have anything to prove to anyone. It’s your life and do something that will make you happy!!

Change your job now. I got a very, very prestigious job, which I grew to hate. I only stayed in it because my parents said they would be “devastated” if I left. I am finally leaving now that they are both dead, and to be frank, it’s something I should have done 20 years ago. I will say though, don’t leave your job until you have something to go on to.

2 years work experience in your first job is the perfect time to leave and you’ll find it much easier to get another job with that on your CV. Your 20s is the perfect time to move around and find the industry and role that suits. We take on about 10 grads a year and only 2/3 are still here after a few years.
Sounds like you have lots of transferable skills, have you looked into market research (much more exciting than public sector research) or data science/analytics type roles.

Unless you’re planning to travelling, don’t leave your job before you’ve found a new one. There is nothing to stop you applying/seeing what’s out there, and if you get a new offer that’s the time when you can sit back and decide whether it will be better than staying where you are.

Go on city breaks, especially up North. It isn't grim up here (I'm in Liverpool) and houses are affordable. There's also lots of fit men. You have no commitments and qualifications that mean you can earn well. You've got to forge your own life. Work isn't work when you enjoy it.

You are still young enough to change direction successfully. If you are hating it so much and have outgrown the town, start looking for what type of roles you’d like and put steps in place to head that way.
give yourself 1 year, don’t resign without having everything in place first.

You should absolutely explore other opportunities. There is a whole world out there and you are WAY too young to resign yourself forever to what you have now.

You can start to look for other opportunities while doing the job you have now - talk to recruiters, look at interesting ways to use the skills and experience you have, be prepared to take risks (if they make sense). You're early enough in your career for a complete change if you want that.

If you feel bored and limited now, imagine how much worse it will be in 10 years.

You're 24. Far too young to be stuck in a job tat doesn't interest you. Your parents still see you as their child and of course don't want to think of you as growing up and moving on. You need to forge your own path. You need to build your own experiences. Life won't be as easy if you move out of your area. But that doesn't mean it'll be worse.

I honestly wouldn’t jack in your job too hastily. Do you have any thoughts on what else you might like to do? What are your passions? What are your skills?

I would figure out what you want/enjoy/your passion. Maybe you need to take some time off and see the world? Maybe you need a job change? But I would figure out what that might look like before just ditching what you have.

perhaps consider a hobby/distraction outside of work?

but no, you don’t have to stay in a job/life you hate… especially not at your age with no dependents or commitments.

Lots about not liking your current job but not much on what you’d like to do instead. Do you have plans?

It sounds like a move would be a good idea but I wouldn’t rush into it until you have something to move to. Much easier to get a job when you have a job.

Alternatively is it possible that your current job is just a dull rung on the ladder to something much more interesting? Presumably something attracted you to it in the first place? Most entry-level jobs have boring bits to them- getting through that stage can be necessary before you get into the good stuff. But whether that’s the case here, I don’t know.

carry on for now, while making plans, and looking into new qualifications etc that could move you into a new direction. I have an adult child in a similar situation, they are going to make it to 3 years in their first job, which looks good on their CV, and in the mean time they are doing evening classes to apply for a different type of job they have found out about. They won't leave their first job until they have sorted out their next job, obviously, but yes, they have decided on a complete change of direction. Still the references and experience from their first job will be with them for life.