Liam Halligan:

The Labour government was hobbled by factional infighting, whereas the PM is the unassailable leader

Winston Churchill lost to Labour’s Clement Attlee, ushering in the NHS, the welfare state and a new era of progressive politics. Margaret Thatcher won a landslide, a response to economic stagnation, industrial chaos and years of decline. Tony Blair trounced the Conservatives, bringing down the curtain on an exhausted, deeply unpopular government.

These three general elections – 1945, 1979 and 1997 – are surely the most significant in living memory. Yet the election of 2019 must now rank among them, a momentous juncture in our country’s history.

More than an unexpected landslide, last Thursday’s vote marked nothing less than a political reconfiguration. While Brexit grabbed the headlines, the really astonishing story is that for the first time in the history of British democracy, the Conservatives are no longer the party of the rich. Boris Johnson won middle-class backing, but the polling fine print shows, incredibly, that the Tories beat Labour by a wider margin among those with incomes under £20,000 than those earning over £70,000.

While Thatcher famously attracted “blue-collar” support, Labour maintained an 11-percentage point lead among working-class voters in 1979. The Iron Lady took office due to her 36-point lead over Labour among middle-class voters. What’s so striking is that the traditional “class gap” not only narrowed in this 2019 election, but went into reverse. Johnson beat Labour among middle-class voters by 12 points. But he won among workingclass voters too – and by a bigger 15-point margin.

That’s why the Tories now hold countless seats across Labour’s traditional heartlands. And perhaps the most iconic scalp was the Northeastern stronghold of Sedgefield, Labour territory for 84 years, the seat once held by Tony Blair.

Emerging bleary eyed from an all-night radio broadcast on Friday morning, the mood indeed reminded me of 1997. That’s why I wasn’t surprised when Johnson chose to echo Blair’s remarks in his first post-election public statement. “A new dawn has broken, has it not?” beamed Blair 22 years ago in the flush of victory. “A new dawn rises on a new day, and a new Government,” countered Johnson, addressing delighted aides and activists in the shadow of Parliament.

Johnson’s position now, in many ways, is similar to that of Blair when Labour’s most successful leader took office. The start of New Labour’s term was welcomed by millions after years of stale Tory rule. Expectations were high – and the world looked on, aware Britain was on the cusp of something interesting. Similarly now, while there has been no change of Prime Minister, there’s a feeling of relief. Less parliamentary trench warfare, an end to the gridlock, this decisive result also points to a clear direction ahead – conveying a sense, after a depressing few years, that Britain is back in business.

If anything, however, Johnson could even be more powerful now than Blair was. Blair boasted a huge 179-seat majority – but as a political correspondent during his first term, I vividly recall how it encouraged Labour’s awkward squad – including one J Corbyn – to rebel at every turn. Blair had gained power essentially by corralling his party’s “Old Labour” stalwarts, and they remained angry.

Johnson’s 80-seat majority is still big enough to do pretty much what he wants. But it’s not so large as to encourage internal rebellions. And Johnson presides over a parliamentary party that largely agrees with him on the fundamentals. All candidates have pledged to back Brexit, and the vast majority of those 108 new MPS, particularly those from the former Labour heartlands, know that they owe their seat almost entirely to Johnson.

As Blair took power, New Labour was hobbled by factional infighting, of course – the result of the simmering feud between Blair and his chancellor Gordon Brown. Relations between No 10 and the Treasury were bordering on dysfunctional throughout Blair’s time in office, stymying his ability to make use of his Commons majority to push through his chosen reforms.

Johnson, by contrast, starts as the Tory party’s unassailable leader. After the back-stabbing of 2016, Michael Gove has regained trust, and will surely play a leading role in this Government. Sajid Javid, Dominic Raab and other former leadership contenders are all smiling and very much within the Johnson fold.

On the question of Europe, Blair suffered badly, with protracted rows over joining the euro prompting intra-government tensions to burst into the open. Johnson, instead, has just climbed to the apex of power off the back of the European issue. Yes, there’s a trade deal to negotiate, and there will be rows and parliamentary push-back but, after January 31, once we have legally left, the political temperature surrounding Brexit will drop. For the first time in a generation, it really does feel as if the question of Britain’s place in Europe has been settled.

For years, our political and media class has been obsessed with Europe, pouring time and energy into our relations with the slowest-growing continent on earth. Now Johnson has time and space to focus on a domestic agenda neglected for so long – particularly industrial and regional policy relating to forgotten towns and localities, those newly won Tory heartlands. And, once we control our trade policy, the UK can play an even bigger commercial and diplomatic role across the 85 per cent of the world economy that lies outside the EU.

While Johnson has advantages over Blair, there are areas of relative difficulty – not least the Union. Yet while the SNP took a handsome haul of seats, they won just 43 per cent of the Scottish popular vote – less than the 45 per cent which backed independence in 2014. Nicola Sturgeon will huff and puff about a new referendum, but we’ll see if she gets the support.

And while Johnson has challenges in Northern Ireland, they’re nothing like those faced by Blair. If he can get power-sharing back up and running, and strike a UK-EU trade deal, the border issues can be solved and a “border poll” delayed until both communities are good and ready.

“A new dawn has broken, has it not?” We’re about to see.