The Prime Minister gave a speech in January outlining the measures he hoped the public would judge his time at the top
Rishi Sunak is resisting calls to change course after Tory failure in local elections, insisting he will win back voters by delivering on five key promises.
The PM said the government must stay the course with its economic policy, despite the fact that the public criticized his party in last Thursday's local elections.
In January, he unveiled five key political commitments that he says people should judge him by in time for the next general election, which is expected to be held in the fall of 2024.
Here The Telegraph looks. how Mr. Sunak has kept his promises so far.
Halving inflation
Rishi Sunak has made controlling inflation a key policy of his government and has promised to halve it this year.
In January, this figure was just over 10% and remained stubbornly and unexpectedly high during the first four months of this year. In particular, rising food prices, which hit consumers' pockets the hardest, did not slow down as predicted.
2903 inflation g7
However, the Bank of England still forecasts that inflation will “fall sharply” in the second half of 2023, which means that the Prime Minister must achieve his goal.
Growing economy
The Prime Minister adopted a decisive message from his predecessor, Liz Truss, by taking on a second promise to bring the economy back to healthy growth.
In contrast to his approach to inflation, he did not set a target against which to measure the promise, nor a time frame . in which this is to be achieved.
So far, the UK economy has belied the gloomy forecasts of experts, and the country is now expected to avoid a recession in 2023. But growth remains sluggish, with the Office of Accountability forecasting -0.2 percent this year and 1.8 cents next.
Are you attracted to Rishi Sunak as prime minister? Debt Reduction
Mr. Sunak's third promise is to reduce government debt as a percentage of GDP.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the total debt of the UK government at the end of December last year was 2.5 trillion pounds, which corresponds to just over 100 percent of the national wealth. This figure has skyrocketed as a result of borrowing to pay for cost of living assistance, especially to cover people's electricity bills.
1309 UK debt since 1970
ONS predicts debt will start to fall from 2027-2028, but this will take place after the next general election. The combination of rising tax revenues and lower-than-expected spending on the energy package could mean Mr. Sunak hits his target sooner.
Shortening waiting lists
The Prime Minister vowed to reduce NHS waiting lists, control during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the first month of this year, hospital waiting lists rose to a record 7.2 million, with another record — 54,000 people waiting over four hours at A& E last December.
Number of people waiting for inpatient treatment
Again, Mr. Sunak did not set a specific metric to measure progress. The latest data from March this year shows that the overall waiting list has slightly increased, although the general trend is that it has begun to stabilize.
Meanwhile, the proportion of people waiting for more than four hours in the A&E share has fallen from more than half in December to just over 40%. In 2011, the year after the Tory came to power, that figure was 5%.
Stopping small boats 
Sunak's fifth promise is perhaps the most famous. It has been shortened to «stop boats,» but in fact the fine print obliges him only to pass a law prohibiting crossing the English Channel. It adds that he will make sure that “if you enter this country illegally, you will be detained and quickly deported.”
By pure definition, the prime minister is already on the road to success. The Illegal Migration Bill was passed by the House of Commons and is now on its second reading in the House of Lords, although peers are resisting it. But in the broader sense of that promise, it will have an uphill battle.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, 603 migrants crossed the border in 14 boats last week, while 5,946 arrived this year. While that's down from 6,691 compared to the same period last year, experts say bad spring weather is to blame.
The Home Office has warned that the total number of crossings this year could reach 85,000, almost double that. than 44,666 people who arrived in 2022.
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