New MPs are ‘servants of the people’, says Johnson

BORIS JOHNSON has told his party’s newest MPs in former Labour strongholds they are now “servants of the people”, as he congratulated them for taking swathes of the North East from Jeremy Corbyn.

Mr Johnson reminded the election winners, many of whom are the first Tories ever to represent their constituency, that they were “not the masters” and must reward the voters in swing seats who placed their trust in the Conservative Party.

He told the MPs for Darlington, Stockton South, Durham North West and Bishop Auckland they would do “fantastic things”.

“Our country has embarked on a wonderful adventure,” he said. “We’re going to recover our national confidence, our mojo, our self-belief.”

Speaking at a cricket club in Tony Blair’s former constituency of Sedgefield yesterday afternoon, Mr Johnson said: “Remember, we are not the masters. We are the servants now. And our job is to serve the people of this country and to deliver on our priorities.”

The visit acknowledged the success in unseating some of Labour’s safest MPs.

In North West Durham, Conservative candidate Richard Holden overturned a majority of 8,000 on a 10-point swing to remove Laura Pidcock, who was thought to be a Labour rising star.

Sedgefield elected a Conservative MP for the first time in 84 years.

Mr Johnson said the Tories had a duty to reward the trust placed in them by voters who traditionally supported Labour.

“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,” he said.

“I know how difficult it can be to make that kind of decision. I can imagine people’s pencils on the ballot paper hovering and wavering before coming down on the Conservatives.”

The Prime Minister read from a piece of paper on which he had handwritten the constituencies of the MPs he was addressing, prompting some to remark that he had won so many seats he could not remember all of them.

The Tories’ 80-seat landslide far exceeded the expectations of constituency-by-constituency polling.

While Mr Johnson repeated his manifesto commitments – to hire 50,000 nurses and pass his “oven-ready” Brexit deal – he maintained a more centrist tone, after making unity the theme of a muted victory speech in Downing Street on Friday.

He pledged to use his majority to “heal” Britain once he has brought “closure” to the Brexit turmoil.