Speaking from Davos today, Rachel Reeves said:

“I wouldn’t blame the bond vigilantes for what happened in the UK last September, it was the fault of the government who announced £45 billion of unfunded tax cuts, and then went on the television and said there’s more to come.”

Labour is on shaky ground here, given that despite repeated promises from Starmer that all their policies will be fully costed, the party’s announced that exact same number – £45 billion – in unfunded spending promises since January 6 alone. Around £1,650 per household…

• Giving nurses at least a 10% pay rise – £7 billion
• Phasing out the system of GP partners and looking at salaried GPs – £1.72 billion
• Ban smoking, resulting in a loss of tax income – £7.6 billion
• Childcare for all children aged nine months to 11 years – £22.3 billion
• Keeping the freeze in fuel duty – £5.7 billion

In total, the last 13 days’ worth of uncosted Labour spending tots up to the exact amount Rachel Reeves claims caused a financial catastrophe under Liz Truss. Hardly the most reassuring prospectus for a ‘government in waiting’…

As the year comes to a close, and we reflect on the months gone by, members of the public are coming to the same conclusion: Boris was the most competent PM of the year. A new poll from People Polling put Boris top of the nation’s rankings, on 32% to Rishi’s 29%. Poor Liz managed just 3%.

When looking at just Conservatives, unsurprisingly, these trends are magnified. Boris gets a stonking majority on 62%, Rishi trails on 22%, as Liz sees her vote share increase by a third… to 4%. These findings were replicated by Omnisis, as Boris secured the support of 28% ahead of Rishi on 19% and Liz on 1%.

Admittedly the bar isn’t high. When asked for the best PM, 46% of voters responded “none of them”…

New polling from Ipsos MORI continues to show the dire state of Rishi Sunak’s party. The poll puts Labour’s lead at 26%, up 7% on November, with the Conservatives’ trust on the economy falling. On public trust to secure economic growth specifically, Rishi’s ratings are now significantly lower than Liz Truss managed. Liz had a lead of 15% over Labour, Rishi is level.

Economic statistics paint a similar picture. The economy outperformed other months in October, registering 0.5% growth in the one month Liz was PM. It seems the public had good reason to initially back Liz’s pro-growth message. Guido increasingly senses a widespread loss of morale from all classes and not just from the usual perennial gloomsters…

Today, Liz Truss retakes her crown as the shortest-serving PM in British history with Rishi overtaking her tenure in office. From her first meeting with Queen Elizabeth, Liz managed just 49 days as PM. Rishi has now served 50. Doesn’t time fly…