BORIS: I WILL MAKE IT LAW TO PROTECT NHS

First PM in history to guarantee annual health spending boost

BORIS JOHNSON is to “repay the trust of the British people” by protecting NHS funding in law. His historic pledge will be part of the Queen’s Speech on Thursday and emerged as the Prime Minister

celebrated the blue revolution in former Labour heartlands which propelled him to election victory last week.

The shock result saw the Tories finish with 365 seats, Labour with 203 and the Lib Dems with 11.

Speaking in ex-labour PM Tony Blair’s former seat of Sedgefield, which the Tories seized on Thursday by 4,513 votes, Mr Johnson thanked those Labour voters who had switched for the first time.

He said: “I want the people in the North East to know that we will repay your trust.

“Everything I do as your Prime Minister will be devoted to repaying that trust. We believe that talent is evenly distributed across this country but that opportunity is unfairly distributed.

“We are going to reconcile that as a One Nation Conservative Government, the People’s

‘Talent is evenly distributed but the opportunity is unfairly distributed’

Government.” Mr Johnson will become the first PM to guarantee NHS funding in law. The settlement will see annual increases to its budget, adding £33.9billion each year by 2023-24.

Surrounded by the new intake of MPS from northern seats, the PM spelled out what else an unblocked parliament would do.

He told them: “When we get down to Westminster, remember we are not the masters, we are the servants now.

“Our job is to serve the people of this country and to deliver on our priorities – and our priorities and their priorities are the same.

“It is getting Brexit done but it is also delivering on our NHS, our education, safer streets, better hospitals, a better future.”

His Queen’s Speech will also prioritise justice reform, bringing in tougher sentences and keeping dangerous criminals behind bars.

There will be reforms to help commuters, stop politically-correct councils boycotting goods from Israel, plans to set up an executive in Northern Ireland and to reform the rental market.

Last week’s blue revolution saw a succession of former Labour safe seats turn Tory, often for the first time in their history. Sarah Atherton, who took Wrexham with a majority of 2,131, is determined to retain the loyalty of voters. She argued that frustration about Brexit swayed the local electorate, adding: “I think we’ve got those votes on loan for five years.”

Lee Anderson, a former Labour activist, won Ashfield with a majority of 5,733 and has no doubts about what drove the Tory success. He says the combination of Brexit and the antipathy towards Jeremy Corbyn was “just too much for anyone to stop us”.

One of the biggest upsets came when Mark Fletcher ousted veteran Dennis Skinner from Bolsover with a majority of 5,299. Mr Fletcher said: “It was

like an out-of-body experience. I’m not quite sure if this has all been a dream. I’m just proud and overwhelmed that the people of Bolsover put their faith in me and the Conservative Party.”

Richard Holden, a former government adviser, was cheered when he saw off Corbyn’s heir apparent Laura Pidcock in

Durham North West. He said: “It is very clear to me that people lent us their votes, so we will have to work hard to prove we deserve to be elected again.”

Much of the behind-the-scenes credit for the triumph in Labour heartlands has gone to Tatton MP Esther Mcvey, who founded the Blue Collar Conservatism campaign earlier this year. She and activists from the movement toured the country supporting candidates in Labour seats. Ben Bradley, who surprisingly won Mansfield in 2017, took 64 per cent of the vote there last week.

He said: “The blue-collar group will be very influential in the way things move forward.”