Today Boris Johnson finally resigned as Prime Minister, making way for Liz Truss to enter 10 Downing Street. Below is his full speech this morning:
Well, that’s it folks.
Thank you all for coming so early this morning.
In just a few hours I will be at Balmoral to see Her Majesty The Queen, and the torch will finally be passed to a new Tory leader.
The baton will be passed in what unexpectedly turned out to be a relay race. They changed the rules halfway through, but it doesn’t matter now.
And through that black lacquered door, a new Prime Minister will soon meet a fantastic group of civil servants.
The people who got Brexit done. The people who delivered the fastest vaccine are being deployed to Europe.
And never forget – 70% of the entire population received a dose within 6 months, faster than any comparable country.
It’s the government for you – it’s this Conservative government.
The people who organized those first arms deliveries to the heroic Ukrainian Armed Forces, an action that could very well have helped turn the tide of Europe’s greatest war in 80 years.
And because of the speed and urgency of what you – everyone involved in this government – have done to revive this economy from July of last year, despite all the opposition, all the naysayers, we have and will continue to have this economic strength to give people the money they need to get through this energy crisis caused by Putin’s brutal war.
Boris Johnson finally resigned as Prime Minister today, making way for Liz Truss to enter 10 Downing Street
And I know that Liz Truss and this compassionate Conservative government will do everything in their power to help people through this crisis.
And this country will endure it and we will overcome.
And if Putin thinks he can succeed by blackmailing or bullying the British people, he is dead wrong.
“The reason we will have these funds now and in the future is that we Conservatives understand the vital symmetry between government action and free market capitalist private sector enterprise.
We are delivering on these huge manifesto commitments, making the streets safer – neighborhood crime is down 38% in the last three years, 13,790 more police on the streets.
Build more hospitals – and yes, we will have 50,000 more nurses by the end of this parliament and 40 more hospitals by the end of the decade.
Put record funding in our schools and in teacher compensation.
Giving everyone over the age of 18 a lifetime skills guarantee so they can continue to develop their skills throughout their lives.
Three new high-speed rail lines, including the Northern Power Station, colossal road schemes from the Pennines to Cornwall, the roll-out of gigabit broadband in the last three years since you were kind enough to elect me, going from 7% of our premises in the country having gigabit broadband to 70% today.
And of course we provide short and long term solutions for our energy needs.
And not just by using more of our own domestic hydrocarbons, but by increasing by 2030 to 50 GW of wind power, half of this country’s energy needs in electricity from just offshore wind, a new nuclear reactor every year.
And looking at what’s happening in this country, the changes that are happening, that’s why the private sector is putting in more venture capital investment than China itself.
More billion-pound tech companies are growing here than in France, Germany and Israel combined.
And as a result, unemployment when I leave the office, at levels not seen since I was about ten years old and bouncing off a space hopper.
And on the subject of twists and turns and future careers, let me say that I am now like one of those booster rockets that served its purpose.
And I will now gently enter the atmosphere and wade invisibly into some remote and dark corner of the Pacific.
And like Cincinnatus I return to my plow, and I will offer this government nothing but the strongest support.
Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie hold their beloved Jack Russell-cross, Dilyn, who was mentioned in the Prime Minister’s leaving speech
Larry, the Downing Street cat, sits outside the front door of No10. He too was mentioned in the Prime Minister’s leaving speech
It’s a tough time for the economy. This is a difficult time for families across the country.
We can and we will get through this and we will come out stronger on the other side, but I say to my fellow Conservatives that it is time for politics to end.
And it’s time for all of us to support Liz Truss and her program, and deliver for the people of this country.
Because that’s what the people of this country want, that’s what they need and that’s what they deserve.
I’m proud to have delivered on the promises I made to my party when you were kind enough to choose me, winning the biggest majority since 1987 and the biggest vote share since 1979.
Deliver Brexit. Delivering on our overt commitments – including social care – helping people across the country by ensuring Britain stands tall again in the world.
Speak with clarity and authority from Ukraine to the Aukus pact with America and Australia.
Because we are a whole and whole United Kingdom whose diplomats, security services and armed forces are so globally admired, and as I leave I believe our union is so strong that those who want to break it will continue to try, but they will never make it succeed.
Thank you to everyone behind me in this building for looking after me and my family so well over the past three years, including Dilyn the dog. And if Dilyn and Larry can put their occasional struggles behind them, so can the Conservative Party.
And above all thank you to you, the British people, to the voters for giving me the chance to serve, all of you who have worked so tirelessly together to defeat covid to get us to where we are today.
Together, we have laid foundations that will stand the test of time, whether by regaining control of our laws or by putting in place vital new infrastructure – great solid masonry on which we will continue to build together, opening up the path to prosperity now and for future generations.
And I will support Liz Truss and our new government every step of the way.
Thank you very much to all.