Our task is to govern for all the people all the time

It is a humbling experience to be returned for a third consecutive time as Prime Minister, especially when the electors have never before bestowed this honour on a political leader since universal adult suffrage was introduced.

I was not aware of the extent of our success when I spoke publicly for the first time after the election from Conservative Central Office.

Since then I have learned, to my delight, that more people voted Conservative on June 11, 1987, than ever before.

That vote of confidence serves only to underline what I said in the immediate aftermath of victory:-

“The greater the trust, the greater the duty upon us to be worthy of that trust.”

Our task is to govern for all of the people all of the time.

A P Herbert put it rather well in his verse To a Winner on the occasion of the 1950 election:—

“… You wear a party coat

But every day recall

Whichever way we vote

You represent us all”

Indeed we do.

But how does a government go about representing all of the people all of the time?

The answer is clear: By taking care to do—and do well—the things that only governments can do.

A government which seeks to serve all the people all the time must therefore first secure for them their liberty under the law.

Security

And by ensuring their security behind sound defences, it serves none better than its youth who, century after century until the second half of this century, have been the first casualties of national weakness and infirmity of purpose.

Second, a government for all the people must seek to preserve the value of the currency. It must root the country's life in the confidence that comes with honest money so that the savings of its citizens, and not least of its pensioners, [end p1] retain their purchasing power.

Third, it must ensure fairness—fair treatment for the old, the sick and the disabled, of course; and a fair balance, too, between different interests so that, for example, companies cannot bear harshly on the consumer or unions put upon their members or the community.

Fourth, in full recognition of human frailty, and together with all the other great institutions, it must seek to set standards by which people lead their lives. A society which knows what is expected of it has a sure basis for progress.

The world knows where Britain stands these days. It knows the way we steer our ship. And it respects us for it.

Support

So, I believe, do our own young people. Nothing was more heartening during the election than the support we received from first time voters.

Finally, a government for all the people must have the humility to recognise its limitations and the strength to resist the temptation to meddle in its citizens' lives.

It must have the wit to recognise where the true greatness of any nation lies: In the vigour and enterprise of its people.

This means that a government can only serve all of its people all of the time if it consciously and deliberately seeks to set them free to exercise their talents and bring them to full flower.

Apathy

We do not seek to lead people's lives for them, nor to boss them around nor to regulate them into apathy.

Instead, we seek only to give people a chance—the opportunity, whatever their background, to develop their aptitudes and abilities and through their own efforts and enterprise to prosper as individuals and to grow in stature as citizens.

Their success is not to be measured simply by material gain but by their contribution to the life of our country.

All this means that a government can serve all the people best by getting off their backs and by encouraging them with incentives, safe in the knowledge that what's good for the people is good for Britain.

Safe in the knowledge, too, that economic freedom breeds personal responsibility.

Just let me give you one small, but significant example: Giving people the opportunity to spend more of their own money in their own way, through tax reliefs, has not cut donations to charity. They have doubled since we took office.

Freedom

For the next five years, as during the last eight, we intend to serve all of our people by extending freedom, opportunity and choice.

In this way we shall bring relief to our inner cities, hope to the council tenant, a better education for our children and a better service to the National Health Service's customers—you, the patient.

This is also the route to more jobs—as last week's spectacular fall in the number of people unemployed testifies.

I cannot think of a more encouraging start to a third term in the service of all the people.

Yes, freedom is working.