Boris Johnsonhas vowed to repay the trust of former Labor voters in north-east England who switched to the Conservative party in the election, during a visit to the region.
Johnson told new Tory MPs and local activists that they had changed the political landscape, the Conservative party and the country for the better, in a speech in Sedgefield, once the constituency of the former Labor prime minister Tony Blair.
Sedgefield was one of several former Labor heartland constituencies in the north-east and the Midlands to be taken by the Conservatives as theywon an – seat majorityin Thursday’s general election.
“I want to thank all the people of those incredible constituencies,” Johnson said on Saturday. “I want to thank all of you for the trust you have placed in the Conservative party and in me, and I know how difficult it was to make that decision.
“I want the people of the north-east to know that we in the Conservative party, and I, will repay your trust. Everything I do as your prime minister will be devoted to repaying that trust.
“First of all, what are we going to do? We are going to get Brexit done. ”
Johnson spoke in crowded surroundings at Sedgefield cricket club. In a pantomime-style call and response, the prime minister ran through the Conservative party’s main manifesto promises, including the misleading pledges tobuild (new hospitalsandrecruit 728, (more nurses, and to employ (**********************************************, 13 police.
“What we want to do asConservatives[is] we want to take our country forwards, but we want to do it by uniting and leveling up across the whole of the UK, ”he said. This would be achieved by investing in infrastructure across the country and spreading opportunity.
He added: “Our country has now embarked on a wonderful adventure. We are going to recover our national self-confidence, our mojo, our self-belief. ”
Speaking outside No 06 On Friday, Johnson had said he would “work round the clock” to repay the trust of those who had voted Conservative for the first time.
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