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by Matt Honeycombe-Foster
16 December 2019
Boris Johnson to tell new Tory MPs to 'repay the public's trust'

Stefan Rousseau/PA

Boris Johnson to tell new Tory MPs to 'repay the public's trust'

Boris Johnson will welcome 109 new Conservative MPs to Westminster later today as he begins putting his new Commons majority to work.

The Prime Minister will tell his newly elected colleagues – who will be sworn in over the next two days – that they must "repay the public's trust" after a wave of former Labour strongholds switched to the Tories.

Johnson is also expected to carry out a mini-reshuffle following the decision of culture secretary Nicky Morgan to quit the Cabinet and the election defeat of environment minister Zac Goldsmith. 

A more extensive shake-up of the Cabinet is expected to take place in the New Year.

Cabinet minister Rishi Sunak on Sunday confirmed that the Government intends to bring Johnson's EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill back to parliament before Christmas, and all Tory MPs have pledged to back it.

The Daily Mail reports that the Prime Minister is set make an overhaul of Britain's immigration system a top priority in his first months of governing. 

Johnson has promised to introduce a new Australian-style points-based immigration system, with the paper reporting that Number 10 is considering splitting up the Home Office to create a new Department for Borders and Immigration.

He is also expected to use a £100bn infrastructure fund to pump cash into parts of the North and the Midlands who made the switch to the Conservatives at the election. 

Meanwhile a legally binding promise to increase NHS spending is set to form part of the week's Queen's Speech, where the new government will unveil its agenda. 

In a message to voters who backed the Tories, Johnson said: "Let’s unite this country, let’s spread opportunity to every corner of the UK, with superb education, superb infrastructure and technology. Let’s get this done and move forward."

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