From the NHS to new homes, Starmer’s successes and setbacks – in charts

Keir Starmer is to step down as prime minister after just two years in office. Despite promising an end to Conservative sleaze and scandal, much political bandwidth towards the end of his time in No 10 was taken up by the fallout surrounding his appointment as US ambassador of Peter Mandelson, who had a close relationship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In his resignation speech, Starmer listed some of the things he had delivered in government, before accepting he had to quit in good grace. The emphasis on delivery stood in contrast to his “last chance” speech in May, in which he said he needed to make more political arguments – not simply talk about what he was doing, but why he was doing it. Starmer said in May that “stories beat spreadsheets”. But what stories do the spreadsheets tell about his time in office? The Guardian dives into the data to find the stories across several key policy areas. Record fall in immigration Immigration has been the dominant political topic of concern among voters under Starmer, particularly among Reform UK supporters and those over 55, according to Ipsos. The figures, however, show net migration has fallen, mainly the result of fewer health and care visas being issued and fewer people entering through the Ukraine and Afghanistan humanitarian schemes, the latter now closed. …