A year ago today, Rishi Sunak called the general election. Watching the rain-drenched prime minister struggling to deliver his speech, it seemed like the inglorious end to an unremarkable premiership. But 12 months on, the decisions Sunak took in office continue to yield results. This morning, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) confirmed that net migration fell to 431,000 in 2024 – down almost 50 per cent on the previous year’s total.
Overall, some 948,000 people came to the UK in 2024, down almost a third on the previous year
That is thanks primarily to the package of measures which Sunak and James Cleverly, his Home Secretary, introduced at the end of 2023. These followed significant pressure from parts of the Conservative party, led by Robert Jenrick. Reforms included hiking the salary threshold for foreign workers and removing the right of overseas care workers to bring dependants. The ONS confirms the drop is ‘driven by falling numbers of people coming to work and study, particularly student dependants.’
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