Boris Johnson has won a massive majority at the general election with the Tories now set to deliver the Prime Minister’s pledge of getting Brexit done by January 31.
Mr Johnson this morning delivered a rousing victory speech to the Tory faithful at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in central London.
Here are his remarks in full:
Good morning my friends. We did it. We did it. We pulled it off, didn’t we?
We pulled it off. We broke the deadlock, we ended the gridlock, we smashed the roadblock and in this glorious pre-breakfast moment before a new dawn rises on a new day and a new government I want first of all want to pay tribute to good colleagues who lost their seats through no fault of their own in the election that has just gone by.
I of course want to congratulate absolutely everybody involved in securing the biggest Conservative majority since the 1980s.
Which was literally as I look around before many of you were even born.
And with this mandate and with this majority we will at last be able to do what? [crowd shouts get Brexit done].
Boris Johnson delivered a victory speech to Tory activists in central London this morning
You paid attention. Because this election means that getting Brexit done is now the irrefutable, irresistible, unarguable decision of the British people and with this election I think we have brought to an end all of those miserable threats of a second referendum and I say respectfully to our stentorian friend in the blue twelve star hat that’s it,, time to put a sock in the megaphone and give everybody some piece.
But I have a message to all those who voted for us yesterday, especially those who voted for us Conservatives, one nation Conservatives for the first time.
You may only have lent us your vote and you may not think of yourself as a natural Tory.
And as I think I said 11 years ago to the people of London when I was elected in what was thought of as a Labour city, your hand may have quivered over the ballot paper as before you put your cross in the Conservative box and you may intend to return to Labour next time round.
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 this time and to earn your support in the future.
I say to you, in this election your voice has been heard and about time to because we politicians have squandered the last three and a half years in squabbles about Brexit and we have even been arguing about arguing and about the tone of our arguments.
I want to put an end to all of that nonsense and we will get Brexit done on time by the 31st of January, no ifs, no buts, no maybes.
We will leave the European Union as one United Kingdom, taking back control of our laws, borders, money, our trade, immigration system, delivering on the democratic mandate of the people and at the same time this one nation Conservative government will massively increase our investment in the NHS, the health service that represents the very best of our country with this single beautiful idea that whoever we are – rich, poor, young, old – the NHS is there for us when we are sick and everyday that service performs miracles.
That is why the NHS is this one nation conservative government’s top priority and so we will deliver 50,000 more nurses and 50 million more GP surgery appointments and how many new hospitals? [crowd replies ‘forty’].
Correct. And we will deliver a long term NHS budget enshrined in law, £650 million more every week and all the other priorities that you the people of this country voted for.
Record spending on schools. An Australian-style points based immigration system. More police. How many? [crowd replied ‘20,000’].
Colossal new investments in infrastructure, in science, using our incredible technological advantages to make this country the cleanest greenest on earth with the most far reaching environmental programme.
And you the people of this country voted to be carbon neutral in this election. You voted to be carbon neutral by 2050 and we will do it. You also voted to be Corbyn neutral by Christmas by the way and we will do that to.
The Prime Minister said ‘we cannot, must not’ let down voters after the Tories won a massive majority
You voted for all of these things and it is now this government, this people’s government, our solemn duty to deliver on each and every one of those commitments and it is a great and heavy responsibility, a sacred trust for me, for every other elected Conservative MP. For everyone in this room and everyone in this party and I repeat, in winning this election we have won votes and the trust of people that have never voted Conservative before and people who have always voted for other parties.
Those people want change. We cannot, must not, must not, let them down and in delivering change we must change to.
We must recognise the incredible reality that we now speak as a one nation Conservative Party literally for everyone from Woking to Workington, from Kensington I’m proud to say to Clwyd South, from Surrey Heath to Sedgefield, from Wimbledon to Wolverhampton.
And as the nation hands us this historic mandate we must rise to the challenge and to the level of expectations and Parliament must change so that we in Parliament are working for you the British people.
And that is what we will now do. Isn’t it. That is what we will do. Let’s go out and get on with it.
Let’s unite this country. Let’s spread opportunity to every corner of the UK with superb education, superb infrastructure and technology. Let’s get Brexit done. But first, my friends, let’s get breakfast done too.
Thank you all very much for coming. Well done everybody.