Laura Kuenssberg: Five facts from a political year of gains and losses

How did politics and politicians fare in 2023?

In the next couple of weeks there'll be plenty of mulling over this year's big events, from the Coronation to Eurovision (with a by-election — or six — thrown in).

We'll all have our own memories to pick out over a box of Quality Street — but Westminster's end of year report might feature five central facts.

Rishi Sunak's hoped-for turnaround didn't happen. Despite several restarts, refreshes, reboots and promises of the 'real Rishi' coming out, the prime minister has not been able to shake his party out of the doldrums in the polls.

And divisions in the last few weeks over immigration have been a very obvious demonstration of how much fear and loathing there is inside the party.

One senior Tory gave the party «one point for still being in government, but struggling to go much further, sadly».

But some close to Mr Sunak hold out that with patience and persistence, IF (in giant capital letters) the party can stick together, there could yet be a rally when the party actually gets closer to the general election.

One party grandee gave the PM this teacher's report: «Headboy — eight out of 10 for effort and enthusiasm. Home Affairs monitor sadly expelled after huge efforts were made to get her involved in team sports. After a period of low morale, an unexpected end-of-term rally. This might be sustained if the planned school trip to East Africa goes ahead?»

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Full interview on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, BBC One and BBC iPlayer, 9am, 17 December

Labour is starting to believe that it is on its way to Number 10. You can see it in the top team's body language and increasing confidence. Looking at the polls, you can understand why that's an assumption