Voice of the Mirror: Boris Johnson must keep his word to new voters in the North of England

If Boris Johnson keeps his word to his new voters in the North of England, it would be a triumph of hope over ­experience.

We are led by a PM who is notorious for breaking promises.

But it is essential for healing the North/South divide – made wider by nine years of Tory austerity – that his pledge of One Nation Conservatism reaches further than the Watford Gap.

Many in Labour ’s northern heartlands have put their faith in Mr Johnson and he must not let them down.

The Sunday Mirror believes it will prove a tragedy that so many lifetime Labour voters turned their backs on Jeremy Corbyn to throw in their lot with the Tories.

Labour had a programme which we are convinced would have made the lives of our readers so much better.

Nationalisation to improve public services. The money needed for a first class NHS. The overdue compensation for Waspi women. None of that will happen now.

But we accept that many Leavers saw Mr Corbyn’s confused Brexit position as a betrayal of his 2017 pledge to honour the result of the EU referendum.

And it is not as if the Labour leader was not warned often enough.

MAGNITUDE

Shadow Cabinet minister Jon Trickett reveals today how he told Mr Corbyn “week after week” that he was heading for electoral disaster over Brexit but he just would
not listen.

Today Mr Corbyn apologises to Sunday Mirror readers for failing them and takes his share of the blame for letting them down.

We thank him for that, but now it is time to move on. To a new leader. And to a new kind of Labour Party.

The drubbing Labour received on Thursday was of a magnitude to keep the party out of power for a decade. The people of Britain cannot afford that.

A new leader must work to have the Tories out at the next election.

That means rebuilding a united Labour Party to scrutinise Mr Johnson and hold the Tories to account.

A new leader must work to connect with the hopes and fears of the people Labour ­traditionally represents to give them the ­confidence to return to the fold.

And a new leader who does that will have the full support of the Sunday Mirror.

So upper crust

When your dad is a future King of England, you’re entitled to be a little bit different.

So Prince Louis’ first words, according  to his mum, were not “mama” or “dada” – but “Mary Berry”.

That’s because Kate kept one of Mary’s books where Louis could see her face.

Lucky it wasn’t Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall!