<p>Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed on Saturday to repay the trust of former opposition voters who gave his Conservatives a mandate to take Britain out of the European Union next month.</p>.<p>Johnson toured a leftist bastion once represented by former Labour leader Tony Blair in a bid to show his intent to unite the country after years of divisions over Brexit.</p>.<p>The northeastern region fell to the Tories in a general election Thursday that turned into a re-run of the 2016 EU membership referendum in which Johnson championed the Brexit cause.</p>.<p>Johnson told cheering campaigners that he understood how difficult it was for traditional Labour voters to switch sides and back his right-wing government in Britain's biggest election in generations.</p>.<p>"I can imagine people's pencil's hovering over the ballot paper and wavering before coming down for us and the Conservatives," he said.</p>.<p>"And I want the people of the northeast to know that we in the Conservative party -- and I -- will repay your trust."</p>.<p>The working-class north of England dropped its traditional support for Labour and relegated the century-old party to its worst finish since the 1930s.</p>.<p>Johnson now commands an 80-vote majority in the 650-seat House of Commons -- a margin last enjoyed by the late Tory icon Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.</p>.<p>The lead assures Johnson safe passage of his divorce deal with the European Union when he re-submits it to parliament next week.</p>.<p>This would assure that Britain formally leaves the other 27 EU nations by the January 31 deadline set by Brussels.</p>.<p>The sides would then set off on the tricky task of trying to reach a brand new comprehensive trade agreement by the end of 2020.</p>.<p>Failure to meet that deadline -- which Johnson has repeatedly vowed not to extend -- would have unknown repercussions for global markets and economic growth.</p>.<p>But Johnson said his government's main focus after the first stage of Brexit was completed would be on bread-and-butter issues important to Labour voters.</p>.<p>"It is getting Brexit done but it is also delivering on our National Health Service, our education, safer streets, better hospitals, a better future for our country," he said.</p>.<p>"We are going to recover our national self-confidence, our mojo, our self-belief."</p>
<p>Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed on Saturday to repay the trust of former opposition voters who gave his Conservatives a mandate to take Britain out of the European Union next month.</p>.<p>Johnson toured a leftist bastion once represented by former Labour leader Tony Blair in a bid to show his intent to unite the country after years of divisions over Brexit.</p>.<p>The northeastern region fell to the Tories in a general election Thursday that turned into a re-run of the 2016 EU membership referendum in which Johnson championed the Brexit cause.</p>.<p>Johnson told cheering campaigners that he understood how difficult it was for traditional Labour voters to switch sides and back his right-wing government in Britain's biggest election in generations.</p>.<p>"I can imagine people's pencil's hovering over the ballot paper and wavering before coming down for us and the Conservatives," he said.</p>.<p>"And I want the people of the northeast to know that we in the Conservative party -- and I -- will repay your trust."</p>.<p>The working-class north of England dropped its traditional support for Labour and relegated the century-old party to its worst finish since the 1930s.</p>.<p>Johnson now commands an 80-vote majority in the 650-seat House of Commons -- a margin last enjoyed by the late Tory icon Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.</p>.<p>The lead assures Johnson safe passage of his divorce deal with the European Union when he re-submits it to parliament next week.</p>.<p>This would assure that Britain formally leaves the other 27 EU nations by the January 31 deadline set by Brussels.</p>.<p>The sides would then set off on the tricky task of trying to reach a brand new comprehensive trade agreement by the end of 2020.</p>.<p>Failure to meet that deadline -- which Johnson has repeatedly vowed not to extend -- would have unknown repercussions for global markets and economic growth.</p>.<p>But Johnson said his government's main focus after the first stage of Brexit was completed would be on bread-and-butter issues important to Labour voters.</p>.<p>"It is getting Brexit done but it is also delivering on our National Health Service, our education, safer streets, better hospitals, a better future for our country," he said.</p>.<p>"We are going to recover our national self-confidence, our mojo, our self-belief."</p>