Two years into his tenure as Prime Minister, and Boris Johnson has attempted to pre-empt his critics and calm the home counties in a single speech.

Boris Johnson's levelling up speech on Thursday needed to start to win back the Blue Wall after the by-election defeat at Chesham and Amersham left his party reeling. And, as he approached the anniversary of his inaugural speech as Prime Minister, it needed to show he had made progress on his priorities – to tackle social care and level up the country.