After two long and intense months of leadership campaigning we have a new Prime Minister. I know Boris Johnson to be a warm, engaging and charismatic man who is always fizzing with ideas and enthusiasm. As Mayor of London, over two terms, he demonstrated a special ability to lead, unite and inspire and it is my hope and aspiration that he will translate that skillset into a nationwide dimension.
Job number one will be to end the current crippling uncertainty by getting Brexit over the line. Johnson has pledged to fight tooth and nail to agree a new deal with the EU but has also committed to leave the bloc on 31st October. He has therefore confirmed that planning for ‘No Deal’ will be ramped-up to ensure, among other issues, that our frontier county of Kent can mitigate any short-term disruption if, indeed, a WTO exit is the final outcome.
This new Government will be about much more than just leaving the EU and Boris’ vision of an outward-looking, global Britain is exactly what we need to put rocket boosters under our economy and invest in our public services. I am delighted, for example, that at the heart of his plans will be a £4.6bn funding boost for education and schools; a major escalation of superfast broadband to poorly served rural areas (such as Nettlestead and Frittenden); providing enduring protection for our green belt, with new housing located only in the right places; and getting to grips with social care by making the system fairer and more sustainable.
All of these policy areas will directly benefit the people of Maidstone & The Weald and are just a snapshot of what our new Government can accomplish. Our new leader undoubtedly has the ideas, energy and personality to deliver Brexit and to unite our country, and he has my full support in that mammoth task.