Rishi Sunak, it is clear, intends to make the economy the centre of his election campaign. He went to see the King last week after the release of figures showing inflation dropped to just above the official 2 per cent target, and following data this month that revealed the economy had an unexpectedly strong start to the year.
He believes that, as a former chancellor, he will have the upper hand in any debates with Sir Keir Starmer on the economy, although that belief let him down when he fought Liz Truss for the Tory leadership.
To understand how he will frame the economic argument, it is useful to think of three distinct periods that the Tories will draw on to defend their record and