The accountability record
The Agenda
Who governed Britain, and who held the money, since 2000: what each government promised, what it decided at the landmark Budgets, and what the watchdogs found, every figure matched to the official record. Where a Budget or a promise is not on the record, it is absent, not estimated.
Who governed
Prime Ministers since 2000, most recent first.
Andy Burnham
Jul 2026 to nowIn office now
Labourmajorityunder a yearBecame Prime Minister on 20 July 2026, mid-Parliament.
Source: official record.
Keir Starmer
Jul 2024 to Jul 2026
Labourmajorityabout 2 yearsWon a majority at the July 2024 general election. Resigned as Prime Minister 20 July 2026.
Source: official record.
Key fiscal decisions
Autumn Budget 2024
30 October 2024Budget · Rachel Reeves
The first Budget of the new Labour government and the first delivered by a female Chancellor. Set out about £40 billion of tax rises, chiefly an increase in employer National Insurance contributions.
One of the largest tax-raising Budgets in decades.
Source: HM Treasury.
Rishi Sunak
Oct 2022 to Jul 2024
Conservativemajorityabout 2 yearsTook office mid-Parliament; lost the 2024 general election.
Source: official record.
On their watch, from the ONS record
Unemployment
3.8% in 2022 to 4.3% in 2024
Economy, real terms
grew 1% from 2022 to 2024
Inflation (CPIH)
7.9% in 2022 to 3.3% in 2024
Source: Office for National Statistics. See the full record.
Key fiscal decisions
Spring Budget 2024
6 March 2024Budget · Jeremy Hunt
Cut employee National Insurance again, from 10% to 8%.
The second National Insurance cut in four months, months before the general election the government went on to lose.
Source: HM Treasury.
Autumn Statement 2023
22 November 2023Autumn Statement · Jeremy Hunt
Cut the main rate of employee National Insurance from 12% to 10% and made full expensing for business investment permanent.
The first of two pre-election cuts to workers' National Insurance.
Source: HM Treasury.
Spring Budget 2023
15 March 2023Budget · Jeremy Hunt
Raised corporation tax to 25%, abolished the pensions lifetime allowance, and expanded free childcare in England.
A mix of a tax rise on company profits and new support for parents and savers.
Source: HM Treasury.
Autumn Statement 2022
17 November 2022Autumn Statement · Jeremy Hunt
Reversed most of the mini-budget and set out about £55 billion of consolidation through tax rises and spending restraint, including frozen tax thresholds.
Freezing thresholds pulls more people into higher tax over time, an effect known as fiscal drag.
Source: HM Treasury.
Liz Truss
Sept 2022 to Oct 2022
Conservativemajorityunder a yearShortest tenure of any UK Prime Minister.
Source: official record.
Key fiscal decisions
The Growth Plan (mini-budget)
23 September 2022Fiscal event · Kwasi Kwarteng
Announced about £45 billion of largely unfunded tax cuts, including abolishing the 45p additional rate.
Sterling fell to a record low against the US dollar and government borrowing costs spiked, forcing an emergency Bank of England intervention in the gilt market. The 45p measure was reversed within ten days, the Chancellor was removed on 14 October and the Prime Minister resigned on 20 October.
Source: HM Treasury.
Boris Johnson
Jul 2019 to Sept 2022
Conservativemajorityabout 3 yearsBegan as a minority; won a majority at the December 2019 election.
Source: official record.
On their watch, from the ONS record
Unemployment
3.8% in 2019 to 3.8% in 2022
Economy, real terms
grew 3% from 2019 to 2022
Inflation (CPIH)
1.7% in 2019 to 7.9% in 2022
Source: Office for National Statistics. See the full record.
Key fiscal decisions
Spring Statement 2022
23 March 2022Fiscal event · Rishi Sunak
Amid the cost-of-living crisis, cut fuel duty by 5p a litre and raised the National Insurance starting threshold.
Offered partial relief as inflation climbed toward its 2022 peak.
Source: HM Treasury.
Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021
27 October 2021Spending Review · Rishi Sunak
Set multi-year departmental budgets as the economy reopened after the pandemic.
Source: HM Treasury.
Budget 2021
3 March 2021Budget · Rishi Sunak
Set the rate of corporation tax to rise from 19% to 25% in 2023, with companies making £50,000 or less (around 70% of firms) staying at 19%, and extended the coronavirus furlough scheme to September 2021.
The furlough scheme closed in September 2021 and the corporation tax rise took effect in April 2023.
Source: HM Treasury, Budget 2021, gov.uk.
Plan for Jobs (Summer Economic Update)
8 July 2020Fiscal event · Rishi Sunak
Introduced Eat Out to Help Out and a temporary stamp duty holiday to support jobs during the pandemic.
Part of an unprecedented peacetime rise in borrowing to fund the pandemic response.
Source: HM Treasury.
Budget 2020
11 March 2020Budget · Rishi Sunak
Delivered days before the first COVID-19 lockdown, opening emergency support for the pandemic.
Followed within weeks by furlough and other emergency measures as the economy shut down.
Source: HM Treasury.
Theresa May
Jul 2016 to Jul 2019
Conservativeminorityabout 3 yearsInherited a Commons majority; lost it at the June 2017 election and governed as a minority with DUP confidence and supply.
Source: official record.
On their watch, from the ONS record
Unemployment
4.9% in 2016 to 3.8% in 2019
Economy, real terms
grew 6% from 2016 to 2019
Inflation (CPIH)
1% in 2016 to 1.7% in 2019
Source: Office for National Statistics. See the full record.
Key fiscal decisions
Budget 2018
29 October 2018Budget · Philip Hammond
Raised the Personal Allowance to £12,500 and the higher-rate threshold to £50,000 from April 2019, a year early, a tax cut for 32 million people, with day-to-day departmental spending set to grow in real terms for the first time since 2010.
It delivered the government's £12,500 personal allowance manifesto commitment a year ahead of schedule.
Source: HM Treasury, Budget 2018, gov.uk.
Autumn Budget 2017
22 November 2017Budget · Philip Hammond
Abolished stamp duty for first-time buyers on purchases up to £300,000, with the existing 5% rate applying between £300,000 and £500,000.
The relief did not apply to homes priced above £500,000.
Source: HM Treasury, Autumn Budget 2017 (first-time buyer stamp duty relief), gov.uk.
Spring Budget 2017
8 March 2017Budget · Philip Hammond
Announced a rise in Class 4 National Insurance for the self-employed, from 9% to 10% in April 2018 and 11% in April 2019, alongside abolishing Class 2. Within a week the Chancellor reversed it, because it would have breached the 2015 manifesto tax-lock pledge.
The reversal came on 15 March 2017. It was the last Spring Budget before the main fiscal event moved to the autumn.
Source: House of Commons Library, National Insurance and the self-employed (CBP-7918).
Autumn Statement 2016
23 November 2016Autumn Statement · Philip Hammond
Announced a ban on letting agent fees charged to renters, and froze fuel duty for the seventh successive year, saving drivers about £130 a year on average.
David Cameron
May 2015 to Jul 2016
Conservativemajorityabout 1 yearConservative majority; resigned after the EU referendum.
Source: official record.
On their watch, from the ONS record
Unemployment
5.4% in 2015 to 4.9% in 2016
Economy, real terms
grew 2% from 2015 to 2016
Inflation (CPIH)
0.4% in 2015 to 1% in 2016
Source: Office for National Statistics. See the full record.
Key fiscal decisions
Budget 2016
16 March 2016Budget · George Osborne
Announced the Soft Drinks Industry Levy, the sugar tax on soft drinks, to begin in 2018.
Led many manufacturers to reformulate drinks with less sugar before the levy took effect.
Source: HM Treasury.
Summer Budget 2015
8 July 2015Budget · George Osborne
Announced the National Living Wage, to begin in April 2016, alongside cuts to working tax credits.
The tax credit cuts were later reversed after opposition in the House of Lords.
Source: HM Treasury.
David Cameron
May 2010 to May 2015
Conservativecoalitionabout 5 yearsConservative and Liberal Democrat coalition.
Source: official record.
On their watch, from the ONS record
Unemployment
7.9% in 2010 to 5.4% in 2015
Economy, real terms
grew 10% from 2010 to 2015
Inflation (CPIH)
2.5% in 2010 to 0.4% in 2015
Source: Office for National Statistics. See the full record.
Key fiscal decisions
March Budget 2015
18 March 2015Budget · George Osborne
Introduced the Help to Buy ISA, where first-time buyers saving up to £200 a month get a 25% government top-up worth up to £3,000, and a new Personal Savings Allowance making the first £1,000 of savings interest tax-free (£500 for higher-rate payers) from April 2016.
The last Budget before the 2015 general election.
Budget 2014
19 March 2014Budget · George Osborne
"Freedom and choice in pensions": by removing the effective requirement to buy an annuity, savers gained far greater flexibility in accessing their pensions. The Budget also created the New ISA (NISA), with a £15,000 limit from 1 July 2014.
The pension freedoms were legislated to take full effect from April 2015.
Source: HM Treasury, Budget 2014 (support for savers), gov.uk.
Budget 2013
20 March 2013Budget · George Osborne
Launched Help to Buy, a £5.4 billion package to help people onto and up the housing ladder, in two parts: an equity loan and a mortgage guarantee.
A signature coalition housing policy. The equity loan scheme launched in April 2013 and the mortgage guarantee in October 2013.
Budget 2012
21 March 2012Budget · George Osborne
Cut the 50p additional rate of income tax to 45p from April 2013.
Several measures (the so-called pasty tax, caravan tax and granny tax) were reversed after public opposition, and the Budget became known as the omnishambles Budget.
Source: HM Treasury.
June 2010 emergency Budget
22 June 2010Budget · George Osborne
Began the austerity programme. Raised VAT from 17.5% to 20% from January 2011 and set out deep departmental spending cuts.
Marked the start of a decade of spending restraint aimed at reducing the deficit after the financial crisis.
Source: HM Treasury.
Gordon Brown
Jun 2007 to May 2010
Labourmajorityabout 3 yearsTook office mid-Parliament on Blair's resignation.
Source: official record.
On their watch, from the ONS record
Unemployment
5.3% in 2007 to 7.9% in 2010
Economy, real terms
shrank 2% from 2007 to 2010
Inflation (CPIH)
2.4% in 2007 to 2.5% in 2010
Source: Office for National Statistics. See the full record.
Key fiscal decisions
Budget 2009
22 April 2009Budget · Alistair Darling
Introduced a new 50p additional rate of income tax on incomes over £150,000, from April 2010, as borrowing rose sharply after the financial crisis.
The first income tax rate above 40% in the UK since the 1980s.
November 2008 Pre-Budget Report
24 November 2008Fiscal event · Alistair Darling
A fiscal stimulus during the financial crisis: a temporary cut in VAT from 17.5% to 15%, from December 2008 to the end of 2009, alongside brought-forward spending.
One of the largest peacetime stimulus measures, as the economy entered a deep recession; borrowing rose sharply.
Source: HM Treasury, Pre-Budget Report 2008 (The National Archives).
Tony Blair
May 1997 to Jun 2007
Labourmajorityabout 10 yearsWon majorities in 1997, 2001 and 2005.
Source: official record.
On their watch, from the ONS record
Unemployment
6.9% in 1997 to 5.3% in 2007
Economy, real terms
grew 32% from 1997 to 2007
Inflation (CPIH)
2.2% in 1997 to 2.4% in 2007
Source: Office for National Statistics. See the full record.
Key fiscal decisions
Budget 2007
21 March 2007Budget · Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown's last Budget as Chancellor: cut the basic rate of income tax from 22% to 20% from April 2008, and abolished the 10p starting rate of income tax.
Abolishing the 10p rate left some low earners worse off and became a lasting political controversy for the government.
Budget 2006
22 March 2006Budget · Gordon Brown
"A strong and strengthening economy: investing in Britain's future." The published Budget measures included steps to protect tax revenues and to strengthen London's position as the world's leading international financial centre.
Presented under the theme of investing in Britain's future, alongside a memorandum of understanding for financial stability.
Source: HM Treasury, Budget 2006 press notices (National Archives).
Budget 2005
16 March 2005Budget · Gordon Brown
A pre-election Budget with a one-off payment to pensioner households towards council tax, and the stamp duty threshold raised to £120,000.
Typical of the pre-election Budgets of the period, easing costs for targeted groups.
Budget 2004
17 March 2004Budget · Gordon Brown
"Prudence for a purpose: a Britain of stability and strength." The Budget set out long-term investment in schools, colleges, universities, science and skills, with GDP forecast to grow 3 to 3.5 per cent in both 2004 and 2005.
The stated aim was to lock in economic stability and direct resources into education, science and a New Deal for skills.
Source: HM Treasury, Budget 2004 press notice 1 (National Archives).
Budget 2003
9 April 2003Budget · Gordon Brown
Launched the Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit, a major reform of support for working families and children.
Tax credits became a central and lasting, if complex, part of the welfare system.
Budget 2002
17 April 2002Budget · Gordon Brown
Raised National Insurance by 1 percentage point for employees and employers from April 2003, earmarked to fund a large, sustained increase in NHS spending.
One of the clearest cases of a tax rise tied directly to public services; NHS funding rose sharply through the 2000s.
Budget 2001
7 March 2001Budget · Gordon Brown
A pre-election Budget that introduced the Children's Tax Credit and increased support for families and pensioners.
Part of a sustained expansion of tax credits and family support through the 2000s.
Budget 2000
21 March 2000Budget · Gordon Brown
Cut the basic rate of income tax from 23% to 22%, from April 2000, and set out large sustained increases in NHS and public service spending.
Marked the start of a decade of rising public spending after the tight early-Labour years.
Who held the money
Chancellors of the Exchequer since 2000. Note how often the office changed hands.
- John HealeyLabourJul 2026 to nowsource
- Rachel ReevesLabourJul 2024 to Jul 2026source
- Jeremy HuntConservativeOct 2022 to Jul 2024source
- Kwasi KwartengConservativeSept 2022 to Oct 2022source
- Nadhim ZahawiConservativeJul 2022 to Sept 2022source
- Rishi SunakConservativeFeb 2020 to Jul 2022source
- Sajid JavidConservativeJul 2019 to Feb 2020source
- Philip HammondConservativeJul 2016 to Jul 2019source
- George OsborneConservativeMay 2010 to Jul 2016source
- Alistair DarlingLabourJun 2007 to May 2010source
- Gordon BrownLabourMay 1997 to Jun 2007source
The NHS waiting list
This is why so many people wait. The number of hospital treatments waiting to start in England (the referral to treatment waiting list) has grown from about 2.5 million in 2012 to a record of about 7.8 million in 2023, roughly 3.1 times as many. When the list is this long, an appointment that should take weeks can take many months.
About 2.5 million treatments waiting to start
About 4.4 million, just before the pandemic
A record of about 7.8 million
About 7.4 million, still near the record
Source: NHS England, Referral to Treatment. Figures are the incomplete referral to treatment pathways for England, rounded. Official statistics.
Find your NHS trust's waits
Search your NHS trust in England to see how long people are waiting there right now. Most hospitals sit within a trust, so search the trust name if your hospital does not appear.
Where the money goes
In 2025-26, all public spending comes to about £1.37tn, about £48,000 per household. These are the largest calls on it, each shown as its share of the total and as what it works out at for a household.
Cash transfers through the welfare system, including the state pension
about £11,700 a year per household
Day-to-day health spending
about £7,200 a year per household
Roads, buildings and loans (capital investment)
about £5,500 a year per household
Net interest on the national debt, more than day-to-day spending on either education or defence.
about £3,900 a year per household
Day-to-day education spending
about £3,300 a year per household
Day-to-day defence spending
about £1,400 a year per household
These are the largest items. They do not sum to the total; the rest is everything else the state runs, from local services to policing. Source: Office for Budget Responsibility, 2025-26. Official figures.
By department
The day-to-day budgets of each government department for 2025-26, about £497bn in total. Health and Social Care dwarfs the rest; most departments run on a fraction of it. Each bar is drawn relative to the largest.
Day-to-day departmental budgets (resource DEL). This is what each department runs on; large benefit and pension payments are counted separately. Source: HM Treasury, PESA 2026 (Resource DEL, 2025-26). Official figures.
Net migration
Net migration is the number of people added to the population each year, immigration minus emigration. It reached a record of about 900,000 in 2023 and has since fallen sharply to 171,000 in the year to December 2025, back near the level before 2021. The ONS revises these estimates as more data arrives.
About 330,000 around the Brexit referendum
About 900,000 at the record peak, an estimate the ONS has since revised
171,000, back near the level before 2021
Source: Office for National Statistics. Long-term international net migration for the UK, rounded, as the ONS revises its estimates. Official statistics.
Promise and delivery
A pledge appears here only once an official body has reported on its outcome, so every verdict is the official record, not our opinion.
Cut net migration to the tens of thousands
Not metConservative manifestos, 2010, 2015 and 2017 · Immigration
The pledge was never met. Official ONS figures show net migration stayed well above 100,000 throughout, and later rose to a record of about 900,000 in 2023.
Source: Office for National Statistics. Official finding.
Build 40 new hospitals by 2030
Not metConservative government, 2020 commitment (2019 manifesto) · Health
The National Audit Office found: by the definition the government used in 2020, it will not now deliver 40 new hospitals by 2030. Some schemes promised in 2020 face substantial delays and will not be completed by 2030.
Source: National Audit Office. Official finding.
Recruit 20,000 more police officers by March 2023
MetConservative government · Crime and policing
The Home Office reported 20,947 additional officers recruited under the Police Uplift Programme by 31 March 2023, meeting the 20,000 target nationally. One force, the Metropolitan Police, missed its own allocation by 1,089 officers.
Source: Home Office, Police officer uplift, final position as at March 2023. Official finding.
Build 300,000 net additional homes a year in England by the mid-2020s
Not metConservative government · Housing
Official figures show 208,600 net additional dwellings in England in 2024-25, a 6 per cent fall on the year before and well short of the stated ambition of 300,000 a year by the mid-2020s.
Source: MHCLG, Housing supply: net additional dwellings, England, 2024-25. Official finding.
The independent verdict
What Britain's own independent watchdogs have concluded about where the money goes and how policy is landing. Every verdict here is a named body's published finding, quoted and linked, never our own opinion. Choose the concern that affects you. More themes are being added under the same rule.
Office for Budget Responsibility
The economyPublished July 2025
On unchanged policy the UK's public finances are on an unsustainable long-term path, with debt projected to climb above 270 per cent of GDP by the early 2070s as an ageing population lifts health, care and state-pension costs.
“debt would be on an unsustainable path”in the words of the OBR
Debt above 270% of GDP by the early 2070s on current policy
Source: OBR, Fiscal risks and sustainability, July 2025. Read the report.
National Audit Office
Health and the NHSPublished March 2025
The NHS England programmes meant to bring elective waits down have not yet met their goals to support elective recovery, and the NAO found value for money undermined by weaknesses in waiting-time data. As at January 2025 around 6.25 million people were waiting for care on 7.43 million pathways.
“not yet met their goals to support elective recovery”in the words of the NAO
6.25 million people waiting on 7.43 million pathways, January 2025
Source: NAO, NHS England's management of elective care transformation programmes, March 2025. Read the report.
Office for Budget Responsibility
WelfarePublished October 2024
The share of working-age people on an incapacity benefit reached 7.0 per cent in 2023-24 and is forecast to climb to an all-time high of 7.9 per cent by 2028-29. Incapacity benefits cost £24.9 billion and working-age disability benefits £19.0 billion in 2023-24.
“forecast to reach an all-time high of 7.9 per cent in 2028-29”in the words of the OBR
Incapacity-benefit prevalence forecast to hit a record 7.9% of working-age adults by 2028-29
Source: OBR, Welfare trends report, October 2024. Read the report.
National Audit Office
ImmigrationPublished December 2025
The NAO found the direct cost of supporting people seeking asylum disproportionately high at £4.0 billion in 2024-25, driven by long delays and backlogs in deciding claims.
“driven by long delays and backlogs”in the words of the NAO
£4.0 billion direct cost of asylum support in 2024-25
Source: NAO, An analysis of the asylum system, December 2025. Read the report.
National Audit Office
Law and justicePublished May 2024
The Crown Court backlog in England and Wales hit its highest ever level, 67,284 cases at the end of December 2023, and the NAO judged the Ministry of Justice target of cutting it to 53,000 by March 2025 no longer achievable. Longer waits deepen the harm to victims, witnesses and defendants.
“the Crown Court backlog reached its highest ever level”in the words of the NAO
67,284 cases at end of December 2023; the 53,000 target was judged unachievable
Source: NAO, Reducing the backlog in the Crown Court, May 2024. Read the report.
National Audit Office
InfrastructurePublished June 2026
HS2 now looks set to cost up to £102.7 billion to complete, after the government cancelled Phase 2 of the railway beyond Birmingham in 2023. By the end of March 2026 the Department for Transport and HS2 Ltd had already spent £46.8 billion on the programme.
“the programme now potentially costing up to £102.7 billion”in the words of the NAO
Up to £102.7bn to complete HS2; £46.8bn already spent by March 2026
Source: NAO, High Speed Two reset, June 2026. Read the report.
Office for National Statistics
The economyPublished April 2018
UK productivity rose steadily before the 2008 recession, then slumped and has barely recovered. The ONS calculated that, had the pre-2008 trend continued, productivity would have been 20 per cent higher than it actually was by the end of 2017.
“it slumped in 2008 and has barely recovered since”in the words of the ONS
About 20% higher by the end of 2017 had the pre-2008 trend held
Source: ONS, The 2008 recession 10 years on, April 2018. Read the report.
National Audit Office
EducationPublished June 2023
Around 700,000 pupils are learning in schools that need major rebuilding or refurbishment after years of underinvestment, and the NAO reported that the Department for Education has escalated significant safety concerns across the school estate to the government risk register.
“significant safety concerns across the estate”in the words of the NAO
About 700,000 pupils in schools needing major rebuilding or refurbishment (2023)
Source: NAO, Condition of school buildings, June 2023. Read the report.
National Audit Office
Health and the NHSPublished July 2024
On NHS funding, the NAO warned of a growing mismatch between demand for NHS services and the money it receives: on the current path, either much future demand must be avoided, the NHS will need a great deal more funding, or service levels will stay unacceptable and may deteriorate further.
“the NHS will need a great deal more funding, or service levels will continue to be unacceptable”in the words of the NAO
Source: NAO, NHS financial management and sustainability 2024, July 2024. Read the report.