Nobody wanted this election in the run-up to Christmas, but what an incredible thing you have done. You have changed the political landscape. You have changed the Conservative party for the better and you’ve changed the future of our country for the better. I want to thank all the people of Sedgefield, of Bishop Auckland, of Stockton South, of Darlington – where my ancestors come from, it turns out – north-west Durham, Blyth Valley and Redcar.
I want to thank all of you for the trust that you have placed in the Conservative party and in me. I know how difficult it was, and it can be, to make that kind of decision. And I can imagine people’s pencils hovering over the ballot paper and wavering, before coming down for us and the Conservatives. And I know that people may have been breaking the voting habits of generations to vote for us and I want the people of the north-east to know that we in the Conservative party, and I, will repay your trust.
