Boris Johnson received 66% of the vote, on an 87% turnout.
London(ANN)-In percentage terms, that is better than Jeremy Corbyn achieved in the last Labour leadership election, in 2016, when he got 62% of the vote on a 78% turnout (although the electorate in that contest was much larger). It is also better than Jo Swinson achieved yesterday, when she was elected Lib Dem leader with 63% of the vote on a 72% turnout.
Johnson has also done better than Iain Duncan Smith, the first Conservative leader elected by members, not just MPs. In 2001 Duncan Smith got 61% of the vote on a 78% turnout.
But Johnson has not managed to beat his old rival, David Cameron. Cameron had 68% of the vote when he won in 2005, on a turnout that was also 78%.
He says his three priorities – deliver, unite and defeat – form the acronym Dud. But that is to leave out the final plan: “energise”. So his acronym is Dude, he jokes.
He says he is now going to get on with the job.
And that’s it.
Updated at 12.13pm BST
Boris Johnson says the party has to reconcile two conflicting instincts again: the instinct to work with others, and the instinct for self-government.
He says in the Financial Times this morning someone said no incoming leader had ever faced such a daunting set of circumstances.
But do you look daunted, he asks the audience. They don’t look or feel daunted he says.
He says the mantra of his campaign was to deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat Jeremy Corbyn.
(He used to include unite the party too, but with all the resignations, that might not have sounded such a good line.)
Updated at 12.12pm BST
Boris Johnson says there will be people who question the wisdom of the decision to elect him.
No one person or party has a monopoly of wisdom, he says.
But he says over time the Conservatives have had the best instincts, and the best way of balancing instincts, like the instinct to own your own home and keep your own money, and the instinct to share.
The Conservatives have encouraged those instincts to work together, he says.
Boris Johnson’s victory speech
Boris Johnson is giving his victory speech.
He starts by saying Jeremy Hunt was a formidable opponent.
He was a fount of excellent ideas, all of which Johnson says he proposes to steal forthwith.
And he thanks Theresa May for her service.
Boris Johnson speaks after being announced as Britain’s next Prime Minister. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters
Updated at 12.19pm BST
Gillan said there were 159,320 people eligible to vote.
Turnout was 87.4%.
And there were 509 rejected ballot papers.
Boris Johnson elected Tory leader and next PM
Gillan is now announcing the results.
Boris Johnson: 92,153
Jeremy Hunt: 46,656
Dame Cheryl Gillan is explaining the election process.
She also thanks party staff, and the party’s board. And she thanks the ERS for conducting a professional election. And she thanks the 1922 executive too.
She also thanks everyone who voted in the election, and the candidates who stood. Both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt emerged as worthy candidates, she said.
Dame Cheryl Gillan and Charles Walker from the 1922 Committee come on stage to announce the results.
Walker thanks the party staff. He says he has a plea as a backbencher.
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Updated at 12.03pm BST
Lewis invites Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt into the hall.
Lewis thanks Theresa May for her service. It is now paramount that they come together, he says.
He says the party will deliver best for the country when it is united.
Updated at 12.00pm BST
Lewis says Tory members have undertaken a solemn duty in choosing the next leader.
They have engaged constructively and thoughtfully in the process. He says he thinks the party has risen to the task.
Brandon Lewis, the party chairman, is speaking now.
He says he is proud of the way the election has been conducted. The candidates have travelled the country and taken hundreds of questions.
He says the online live hustings, open to everyone in the country, was a first for a political party.
He thanks party staff for their work.
Now we’ve got a clip from John Major – but not the statement about the dangers of a no-deal Brexit he made yesterday.
David Cameron and Theresa May have also been featured.
Updated at 11.57am BST
Now an extract from Margaret Thatcher’s final speech in the Commons.
At the QEII centre some audio is now being played. It is Winston Churchill, followed by Harold Macmillan (I think) talking about how great it is to be made prime minister.
Then Margaret Thatcher’s “You turn if you want to, the lady’s not for turning” soundbite.
Source: theguardian.com