Boris Johnson

Downing Street Address Following 2019 General Election

delivered 13 December 2019, London

[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio]

Good afternoon,

This -- This morning I -- I went to Buckingham Palace and I am forming a new government. And on Monday MPs will arrive at Westminster to form a new Parliament and I am proud to say that members of our new one-nation government, a people’s government, will set out from constituencies that have never returned a Conservative MP for a hundred years. And yes, they will have an overwhelming mandate from this election to get Brexit done and we will honor that mandate by January the 31st.

And so in this moment of national resolution I want to speak directly to those who made it possible, and to all those who voted for us for the first time, and those whose pencils may have wavered over the ballot and who heard the voices of their parents and their grandparents whispering anxiously in their ears.

I say, thank you for the trust you have placed in us and in me; and we will work round the clock to repay your trust and to deliver on your priorities with a Parliament that works for you.

And then I want to speak also to those who did not vote for us, or for me, and you wanted and perhaps still want to remain in the EU. And I want you to know that we in this one-nation conservative government will never ignore your good and positive feelings of warmth and sympathy towards the other nations of Europe.

Because now is the moment, precisely as we leave the EU, to let those natural feelings find renewed expression in building a new partnership, which is one of the great projects for next year. And as we work together with the EU, as friends and sovereign equals, in tackling climate change and terrorism; in building academic and scientific cooperation; redoubling our trading relationship -- I frankly urge everyone on either side of what are after three year -- three and a half years after all an increasingly arid argument, I urge everyone to find closure and to let the healing begin.

Because I believe, in fact I know -- because I've heard it loud and clear from every corner of the country -- that the overwhelming priority of the British people now is that we should focus, above all, on the NHS [National Health Service] -- that simple and beautiful idea that represents the best of our country, with the biggest ever cash boost, 50,000 more nurses, 40 new hospitals; as well as providing better schools, safer streets, and in the next few weeks and months we will be bringing forward proposals to transform this country with better infrastructure, better education, better technology.

And if you ask yourselves, "What is this new government going to do?" "What is he going to do with his extraordinary majority?" I will tell you that is what we are going to do, we are going to unite and level up, unite and level-up, bringing together the whole of this incredible United Kingdom -- England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland -- together; taking us forward, unleashing the potential of the whole country; delivering opportunity across the entire nation.

And since I know that after five weeks, frankly, of electioneering this country deserves a break from wrangling, a break from politics, and a permanent break from talking about Brexit -- I want everyone to go about their Christmas preparations happy and secure in the knowledge that here in this "people’s government" the work is now being stepped up to make 2020 a year of prosperity and growth and hope -- and to deliver a Parliament that works for the people.

Thank you all very much -- and happy Christmas.

Thank you.

Page Updated: 11/1/20

Transcript Note: Text reflects the audio/video above as rendered in standard American English.

U.S. Copyright Status: Text and Image = Used in compliance with the Crown Copyright/OGL terms found here. Original text lightly modified to match the speaker's verbal delivery.