Boris Johnson launches Tory leadership campaign

Just days after confirming he would run for Tory leader, Boris Johnson has officially launched his campaign with a video posted on Twitter.

Promoted by fellow Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith, it involves Johnson speaking to various voters on their doorsteps and at a retail park.

Prime Minister Theresa May is due to resign on Friday having failed to deliver Brexit on schedule. She leaves behind her a divided nation and parliament with no consensus on the way ahead for the world’s fifth largest economy.

Johnson, a former foreign minister who resigned in protest at May’s handling of Brexit, is the bookmakers’ favourite to win a crowded contest and take over the running of the country at its most important strategic juncture in decades.

“If I get in we’ll come out, deal or no deal, on October the 31st,” he was seen telling a member of the public in a campaign video released on Twitter.

During the video, Johnson, known for his trademark scruffy hair, looks slick and slimmed down as he tells potential voters: "If there is one lesson from that referendum of 2016, it is that too many people feel left behind, that they're not able to take part fully in the opportunities and success of our country. The former mayor of London highlighted policy areas of building infrastructure, education, the environment, and supporting the NHS, as well as supporting businesses.

Johnson also said he would both cut taxes and increase spending on schools as he launched his campaign to become prime minister.

The former foreign secretary has pledged to "significantly" increase the amount spent on every secondary school pupil to at least £5,000 if he wins the race to succeed Theresa May.

Johnson's campaign launch was clearly aimed at showing Tory MPs that he is the candidate most likely to secure them a general election victory, with carefully chosen footage of the former mayor of London on voters' doorsteps.

On Brexit, he said: "If I get in, we'll come out, deal or no-deal, on October 31."

"Now is the time to unite our society and unite our country," Johnson told his Twitter viewers.

"To build the infrastructure, to invest in education, to improve our environment and support our fantastic NHS.

"To lift everyone in our country - and of course, also, to make sure that we support our wealth creators and the businesses that make that investment possible.

"Now is the time for us to believe in ourselves and what we can do."