Britain Johnson appeals for unity
Boris Johnson has promised to heal the divisions of Brexit, offering an olive branch to Remainers after his stunning election victory.
The British prime minister said yesterday it was time for closure in the three-year battle between Leave and Remain, as he asked his rivals for their help in forging a new relationship with the European Union.
He acknowledged in a Downing Street address that many voters had struggled against tradition to back the Conservatives for the first time.
A flood of mainly workingclass voters in the opposition Labour Party’s strongholds helped to put Johnson in command of an 80-strong majority in the House of Commons, the largest Tory victory since Margaret Thatcher’s in 1987.
Johnson said the win gave him an ‘‘overwhelming mandate’’ to deliver Brexit. However, he also reached out to those who had not voted Tory and did not wish to leave the EU.
He told Remain voters that his ‘‘one nation Conservative government’’ would never ignore their ‘‘positive feelings of warmth and sympathy towards the other nations of Europe’’, and said he wanted them to ‘‘find renewed expression in building a new partnership with the EU as friends and sovereign equals’’.
‘‘I frankly urge everyone on either side of what are, after 31⁄2 years, a frequently arid argument, I urge everyone to find closure and to let the healing begin,’’ he said.
Johnson’s efforts at unity were put to an early test in his conversation with Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister.
The Scottish National Party leader is expected to lodge a legal request for a second independence referendum after her party won 48 of Scotland’s 59 Westminster seats. Johnson told Sturgeon that he was opposed to another vote, and that the result of the 2014 referendum was decisive and should be respected.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, meanwhile, said he would stand down ‘‘in the early part of next year’’ as he and his allies sought to blame Brexit for the party’s worst election performance since 1935.
Corbyn said he remained proud of his manifesto, blaming his party’s losses on Labour Leave voters turning to the Tories or the Brexit Party.
Insiders, however, were engaged in a brutal examination of what they said had been a chaotic and dysfunctional campaign, blaming Corbyn and his senior aides. Leadership candidates called for Corbyn and his circle to show humility and take responsibility.
Johnson said he would do all he could to repay the trust of voters who had ‘‘lent’’ their support to produce Tory victories in the Midlands, north Wales and the north of England.
Speaking under a new banner of ‘‘the people’s government’’, he said: ‘‘We have won the trust of people who have never voted Conservative. Those people want change, and we must not let them down. We must change, too.
‘‘You may intend to return to Labour next time round, and if that is the case, I am humbled that you have put your trust in me, and I will never take your support for granted. I will make it my mission to work night and day, flat out, to prove that you were right in voting for me this time, and to earn your support in the future.’’
European leaders also signalled that they were willing to start anew. French President Emmanuel Macron said it was time to build a common future.
Jo Swinson, who resigned as leader of the Liberal Democrats, defended her party’s campaign, including its pledge to revoke Brexit. She was the first serving leader of any big party to fail to be re-elected since 1945, and her term of 144 days in office was one of the shortest.
The results offer Johnson fresh momentum to push his EU withdrawal agreement through parliament. Since taking office in July, he had led a minority government. After the House of Commons stalled his Brexit deal at the end of October, he called the election two years ahead of schedule in the hope of winning a clear majority.
The Conservatives won 365 seats in the Commons. Labour slumped to 203 seats, 59 fewer than it won two years ago.
Voters rejected Corbyn’s attempt to bridge divisions over Brexit by promising a second referendum. They also rejected the rest of the party’s agenda, which included promises to raise taxes on the rich, increase social spending, and nationalise industries. Corbyn was also criticised for silencing critics within the party and for failing to root out anti-Semitism among his supporters.