Boris Johnson’s immediate priority will be be to pass his EU withdrawal agreement before Christmas as he seeks to capitalise upon the biggest parliamentary majority for a decade.
But the prime minister will soon come under pressure to enact his vague promise to solve the social care crisis, enshrine a £33.9bn a year increase in NHS spending, recruit and retain thousands of nurses and police officers, and honour his pledge to pay for a major cut in national insurance.
Johnson is also faced with the prospect of an almost immediate constitutional showdown as Nicola Sturgeon demands the right to hold a fresh referendum on Scottish independence.
In a speech delivered after a dramatic night, the prime minister said he was humbled that first-time Tory voters had chosen to put their trust in him and said his election promises would be pushed through.
“In winning this election, we have won votes and the trust of people who have never voted Conservative before and people who have always voted for other parties,” he said.
“Those people want change. We cannot, must not, must not, let them down. And in delivering change, we must change too.”
The chancellor, Sajid Javid, the only minister who has already been guaranteed his job by the prime minister, is expected to deliver a budget in February which will focus on non-Brexit election promises.
His priorities will be to fund election pledges, including money for “50,000 more” nurses and 20,000 police officers, a £34bn spend on the NHS, an increase of the National Insurance payment threshold and money for flood defences.
Speaking on Sky News, the chancellor said: “We talked about the people’s priorities in the election – investment in the NHS, in schools, policing and also an investment revolution. We are going to make sure we deliver.
“The NHS is going to be our No 1 priority.”
There will be pressure on Johnson to set out an agenda on social care, which the party failed to do during the election.
The Tories have pledged to allocate an extra £1bn a year for the sector as part of a cautious manifesto, while guaranteeing that no one should have to sell their home to meet the costs.
But it falls short of Johnson’s rallying cry on the steps of Downing Street when he took office, claiming “we will fix the crisis in social care once and for all … with a clear plan we have prepared”.
Senior Conservatives acknowledge there is a clash between the demands of key election pledges and the kind of low-tax economy which Tory ministers such as Priti Patel and Dominic Raab hope to see in the UK after Brexit.
Johnson also promised that by March, he would legislate for a cash increase for schools by raising the minimum funding per pupil, and finalise an agreement with mobile phone operators to improve rural coverage.
On Monday, MPs will return to Westminster and begin the process of swearing in, where they take an oath of allegiance.
Downing Street is expected to confirm that Johnson’s second Queen’s speech will take place on Thursday, but with “reduced ceremonial elements”. At the heart of the speech will be the EU withdrawal bill which will be tabled on Friday, an unusual sitting day for MPs.
Parliament will have just a few weeks to get the legislation through both houses before the 31 January deadline.
Once parliament has agreed to the withdrawal agreement, the European parliament will ratify the deal on the EU side, and the UK can prepare to leave by the end of January.
The UK’s negotiating delegation will begin negotiating the trade deal that will form its future relationship with the EU. Trade teams will also be expected to start creating trade deals with other countries, including the US.
