Rishi Sunak feeling the pressure with his five pledges all in danger six months after he made them

Rishi Sunak is feeling the political pressure as all five of his major pledges appear to be at risk exactly six months after he made the promises.

The Prime Minister believes that the middle of this year is likely to be the hardest part of his premiership, with the economy floundering and little progress on cutting Channel boat crossings – but is adamant things will improve, i understands.

Attending the latest Ashes match at Lord’s at the weekend, Mr Sunak told the BBC’s Test Match Special: “When I took this job I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, everyone could see that. It was like the worst-possible in-tray for a new job that anyone could imagine.”

He is understood to have told his inner circle months ago that the time after the May local elections and before party conferences in the autumn would be his moment of maximum vulnerability. Inflation is falling more slowly than was previously expected, public debt continues to rise, and fragile economic growth could go into reverse due to a series of aggressive interest rate rises.

A senior Government source said: “We are just helmets on, getting on with it – not as fast as we would like but things are going to get better.” Mr Sunak has told friends he likes to unwind by watching Succession – a drama about power-hungry wannabes desperately seeking to get the top job – and The Night Agent, a thriller about high-level politics.

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The Prime Minister will spend much of this week attending events to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the NHS, before embarking on another round of global diplomacy with a short visit by Joe Biden to the UK followed by next week’s Nato summit in Lithuania. He says privately that when he travels around the world he despairs at British self-deprecation – he told one ally: “We love to talk about how shit we are – we are not shit!”

Mr Sunak’s pledges to “stop the boats” and cut NHS waiting lists have been as rocky as those on the economy. June saw a record number of refugees cross the Channel while there is little sign of pressure on the health service easing.

A No 10 spokesman said: “The Prime Minister rightly set ambitious priorities. He did not set out to deliver anything that would be easy, that’s not what the public would expect. These are big challenges made harder by a pandemic and war in Europe. He is clear that these are the public’s priorities, that is where he is spending the vast majority of his time.”

Germany and other European countries have experienced recessions while the UK has narrowly avoided one, he added, saying: “We were predicted to fall into a recession, that has not happened. These things do not happen by accident.”