Boris Johnson pledged to unite the country and heal its Brexit divisions last night after securing a stunning election victory over Labour.
Speaking on the steps of No 10 after visiting the Queen, the Prime Minister said it was time to bring ‘closure’ to the three-and-a-half years of toxic argument over Britain’s departure from the European Union.
His pledge to ‘Get Brexit Done’ helped him rout Labour in its traditional heartlands in the North and Midlands.
The PM said it was also clear that, once Brexit is delivered, the ‘overwhelming priority of the British people’ was to focus on the problems in the NHS. The Tory victory confounded critics who claimed that the party could not win an election with Brexit still unresolved
The emphatic 80-seat majority was the biggest Tory win since 1987.
Addressing the nation after delivering a political earthquake, Mr Johnson offered an olive branch to Remainers and said the country deserved ‘a break from wrangling, a break from politics, and a permanent break from talking about Brexit’.
Wishing voters a ‘happy Christmas’, he said they could now go about their festive preparations ‘happy and secure’ in the knowledge that the Brexit crisis was being resolved, and that other priorities, such as the NHS, would move centre stage in 2020.
Next year, he said, would be ‘a year of prosperity and growth and hope’, promising a ‘parliament that works for the people’.
The PM’s One Nation pitch to the country came as:
- Sterling soared to a three-and-a-half year high as markets welcomed the decisive election result and the removal of the threat of a Labour government;
- Jeremy Corbyn brushed aside calls to resign immediately and sparked anger among Labour moderates by claiming the election showed that his policies had ‘huge public support’;
- A poll showed that 43 per cent of people identified their dislike of the Labour leader as their reason for not voting for his party;
- Mr Johnson returned to No 10 with girlfriend Carrie Symonds to prepare for a whirlwind tour of the North – before a frantic 100-day schedule to begin his new administration;
- It emerged Sajid Javid will survive next week’s mini-reshuffle but could still be in jeopardy in a wider Cabinet shake-up in the new year;
- Downing Street said Mr Johnson would not allow a second vote on Scottish independence despite the SNP picking up 48 of the 59 seats north of the border;
- Jo Swinson was forced to resign as Liberal Democrat leader after losing her seat but claimed she ‘did not regret’ her disastrous decision to campaign on a pledge to cancel Brexit;
- Donald Trump led international congratulations, saying Mr Johnson had secured a ‘tremendous victory’ that would result in ‘a lot of trade’;
- Brussels warned the PM that he will have to revert to a softer post-Brexit relationship to get the trade deal he wants by the end of next year;
- The People’s Vote campaign abandoned its bid for a second referendum, saying it would ‘rebrand and reorganise to campaign for a fair deal for Britain’
- The election returned a record 217 women MPs – more than a third of the total. More than half of Labour and Lib Dem MPs are now women.
Boris Johnson pledged to unite the country and heal its Brexit divisions last night after securing a stunning election victory over Labour. He is pictured outside 10 Downing Street after his election win
Mr Johnson yesterday spoke directly to traditional Labour voters who had helped carry him to victory, pledging that his ‘People’s Government’ would ‘not let them down’.
He added: ‘To all those whose pencils may have wavered over the ballot and who heard the voices of their parents and their grandparents whispering anxiously in their ears, I say thank you for the trust you have placed in us and in me. We will work round the clock to repay your trust and to deliver on your priorities.’
The PM and girlfriend Carrie Symonds are pictured outside Downing Street. The Tory victory confounded critics who claimed that the party could not win an election with Brexit still unresolved
Mr Johnson also appealed to Remainers, saying he would ‘never ignore’ them and pledging to ensure their ‘good and positive’ feelings towards other European nations are reflected in the post-Brexit relationship he negotiates with the EU.
He added: ‘I frankly urge everyone on either side – after three-and-a-half years of increasingly arid argument – I urge everyone to find closure and to let the healing begin.’
Mr Johnson will today travel North to visit the remains of Labour’s ‘Red Wall’ seats, which turned blue as voters flocked to his pledge to deliver on the 2016 referendum result.
Yesterday he acknowledged that many voters in seats such as Bolsover, Sedgefield and Leigh may have only ‘lent’ him their vote and ‘may intend to return to Labour next time round’.
Addressing them directly, he said: ‘If that is the case, I am humbled that you have put your trust in me, and that you have put your trust in us. And I, and we, will never take your support for granted.
‘And I will make it my mission to work night and day, flat out, to prove you right in voting for me.’
Mr Johnson yesterday said new Tory MPs would be arriving in Westminster next week from seats that had ‘never returned a Conservative in 100 years’. Conservatives activists are pictured celebrating their win in Bury North
Mr Johnson also appealed to Remainers, saying he would ‘never ignore’ them and pledging to ensure their ‘good and positive’ feelings towards other European nations are reflected in the post-Brexit relationship he negotiates with the EU
He said that Britain would now leave the EU at the end of next month ‘no ifs, no buts’. Legislation to put his withdrawal deal into law will be put before parliament next week.
Mr Johnson is also expected to carry out a mini reshuffle, ahead of a wider shake up of government in February.
The Prime Minister said it was also clear that, once Brexit is delivered, the ‘overwhelming priority of the British people’ was to focus on the problems in the NHS.
The Tory victory confounded critics who claimed that the party could not win an election with Brexit still unresolved.
But the unequivocal pledge to ‘Get Brexit Done’, coupled with Labour’s dithering on the issue, saw the Conservatives sweep through Leave-supporting areas in the North. Mr Johnson yesterday said new Tory MPs would be arriving in Westminster next week from seats that had ‘never returned a Conservative in 100 years’.
Shock victories included the defeat of Labour veteran Dennis Skinner in the former mining constituency of Derbyshire, the ousting of Labour rising star Laura Pidcock and the seizing of Tony Blair’s former Sedgefield stronghold.
Mr Johnson yesterday spoke directly to traditional Labour voters who had helped carry him to victory, pledging that his ‘People’s Government’ would ‘not let them down’
Former Labour cabinet ministers Ed Miliband and Yvette Cooper clung on because Brexit Party candidates split the vote.
Polling by the former Tory treasurer Lord Ashcroft revealed that the Conservatives fared better among working class voters than Labour.
The poll of 13,000 found that the Conservatives gained 43 per cent support among people in social classes D and E, compared with 37 per cent for Labour.
Among blue-collar C2 workers, the Tories polled 50 per cent, compared with just 30 per cent for Labour.
David Cameron, who played no part in the election campaign, congratulated his former friend, saying: ‘It marks the end of Corbyn, and Corbynism, and that’s a very good thing for the country.’
Labour was plunged into bitter infighting by the result, which was its worst since 1935. Mr Corbyn’s tally of just 203 seats was worse than Michael Foot’s 1983 debacle when Labour won 209.
The Labour leader refused to accept personal blame, and said he would stay on for several months to give the party time to ‘reflect’.
Even Len McCluskey, whose Unite union gave Labour £3million, called for Mr Corbyn to quit, citing his ‘metropolitan’ worldview, his failure to apologise for anti-Semitism and his ‘incontinent’ mess of unbelievable policies.