Boris Johnson speech: Tory leadership frontrunner vows to unite the country as he launches campaign to become PM

Boris Johnson today called for “guts and determination” to deliver Brexit — and pledged to unite the country in the same way he led the capital for two terms as Mayor of London.

In a passionate speech launching his bid to be prime minister, he pledged to “level up” disadvantaged regions, focus on “social justice” and that there would be “no community left behind”.

Mr Johnson declared: “I took this city through riots and strikes and all the teething problems of the Olympic Games. 

“And with a team of stars we brought the city together — with new infrastructure, with renewed and relentless emphasis on education, with technology, we shrank that opportunity gap.

“I want now to do for the whole country what we did in London; releasing the creative energies of our country and its peoples, and healing its divisions.”

Crucially, Mr Johnson claimed in a key message to Conservative MPs — who will vote for the first time on the crowded leadership contest field tomorrow — that his record showed he could beat Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in a general election.

“I know the London Left who now dominate that once-great party,” he said, recalling that he defeated Ken Livingstone at a time when the Tories were nationally 17 points behind in the polls.

In other key developments:

• Michael Gove had a boost when Lords Leader Baroness Evans backed him, saying he had “the ideas and passion” to win elections. In a dig at Mr Johnson’s caution towards TV debates, the Environment Secretary tweeted: “No one should hide from scrutiny — all candidates to be PM should commit to the TV debates”.
• Home Secretary Sajid Javid , speaking ahead of his campaign launch this afternoon, told the Evening Standard he would champion “values of opportunity for all, of ambition, of hard work” which ran through him “like a stick of rock”. 
• Health Secretary Matt Hancock, speaking at the CogX tech festival, warned the Tories that they would be damaged if a new leader tries to crash out of the EU on October 31. “The risk of attempting to leave without a deal is that Parliament will try to stop it, and there are political consequences that will follow,” he said. 

Mr Johnson was introduced on stage by Attorney General Geoffrey Cox, a surprise new endorsement, who said Mr Johnson was the only candidate who could “out-fight Nigel Farage in every corner of the country”. 

He added: “These are extraordinary times, and we need a personality big enough, strong enough and with the political imagination to rise to the historic challenge with which our country is now confronted.”

Mr Johnson said the Conservative mission was frozen while the politics of Brexit was stuck in a “yellow box junction” at Westminster. “The people of this country deserve better from their leaders,” he said.

He stressed: “Let me be clear that I am not aiming for a no-deal outcome … It is only if we have the guts and the courage to get ready for it that we will carry any conviction in Brussels and get the deal we need.”

He devoted most of his speech to expanding on his long-term plan to “re-knit the bonds” of the country, with an emphasis on One Nation social Conservatism.

“We must fight now for those who feel left behind,” he said. “We need now to level up, not to neglect our capital — of course not — but to put in the infrastructure that will lift every region. Northern powerhouse rail, and proper connectivity in the West Midlands.” He highlighted further education, fibre optics and schools funding as priorities.

Writing in today’s Standard, Brexit minister James Cleverly says Mr Johnson was constantly under-estimated when he stood for mayor. But, he writes, he ignored advice not to get too close to him after watching the future mayor chatting with police, volunteers and voters and listening to their worries.

“I could see that he was making an emotional connection with people who were not naturally Tory voters,” Mr Cleverly writes. “It’s what we needed then in London, it’s what we need now across the country.”

Former defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon told Sky News: “What Boris has got that every candidate would like is reach across the board, in the Midlands, in the North, outside London, he is recognised, he is liked and he is popular.”

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss hailed Mr Johnson as a “brilliant” foreign secretary — but during a morning media round she was deluged with questions about past controversies.  When BBC Radio 4 Today programme presenter John Humphrys suggested Mr Johnson was to blame for the continued imprisonment of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Ms Truss hit back: “The people who are keeping Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in jail are the Iranians. This is an oppressive Iranian regime. I think it’s apologists for that regime who are putting the blame on Boris Johnson.”