Boris won the election, so what's next?
The PM has passed a big test. But now he has to work out how to deliver Brexit, and keep hold of the new blue-collar voters he has won over.
Boris Johnson's Brexit election gamble has paid off as the Prime Minister is on track to win a sweeping victory. Illustration: David Rowe
Blyth Valley is a hardscrabble former mining community in England's far north. Its inhabitants traditionally harbour a visceral hatred of Tories, fuelled not least by Margaret Thatcher's pit closures, and have faithfully returned a Labour MP for half a century.
But a mental health worker named Ian Levy has changed all that. Late on Thursday night (Friday AEDT) he won the Blyth Valley seat for the Conservative Party – a result that took the political establishment's breath away.
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