Is Rishi Sunak delivering on his five pledges?

Six months after the prime minister made a speech laying out his five priorities for 2023, Sean O’Grady gauges his progress – or lack of – so far

Counting down: Rishi Sunak only has six more months to achieve his targets (PA)

On 4 January 2023, at the London 2012 Olympic Park, the prime minister gave a speech on “building a better future” that set out his five priorities for the year ahead. At the time, many commentators felt that some of these would be easy to achieve, and few predicted abject failure across the board. Yet the latter is what seems to be happening.

Like the pledge he made on his first day in office – “This government will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level” – the five pledges on the economy, the NHS and migration are at risk of becoming an albatross around his neck.

So, as we approach the half-year mark, it seems a good moment to review Rishi Sunak’s promise to build “a future that restores optimism, hope, and pride in Britain”. (The precise text of the pledges is taken from the speech for the purposes of accuracy, rather than from the various bullet-point versions pumped out in the propaganda.)