Operation Rebuild Britain starts now for Boris Johnson - The Yorkshire Post says

With the exit poll forecasting a Tory majority of 86 seats, exceeding all expectations, Mr Johnson was on course to achieve his party’s best result since Margaret Thatcher’s historic third win in 1987.

And if this is borne out once all 650 results have been declared, it will vindicate those who never doubted Mr Johnson’s broader electoral appeal as Labour faces up to one of its worst results ever – many activists here said people were more concerned about Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership than Brexit.

It will also give Mr Johnson his own mandate to govern, and lead Britain out of the European Union next month, after the deadlock that has existed at Westminster since the 2017 election was broken.

Yet, as the PM contemplates how to honour his ‘get Brexit done’ mantra by January 31, he also needs – even if this proves to be his ‘finest hour’ to paraphrase his great hero Winston Churchill – to heed The Yorkshire Post’s eve of election call for honesty and humility.

This, after all, appears to be an election where people overlooked Mr Johnson’s uneasy relationship with the truth because they were even more fearful of the hard left, and a Corbyn-led government, as Labour’s so-called ‘Red Wall’ in the North appeared to be breached.

Boris Johnson and Conservatives set for General Election majority of 86, exit poll predicts

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And, without wishing to appear churlish or disingenuous, Mr Johnson needs to acknowledge this harsh reality when he starts to form a new government.

After the third general election in less than five years, he must unite – and galvanise – a country at a time when public mistrust is so entrenched.

A state of affairs exacerbated by the Government neglecting the 48 per cent who voted to stay in the EU, the Prime Minister’s ‘One Nation’ mantra must become his mission, especially if the Scottish Nationalists do secure the predicted landslide north of the border.

This begins with Mr Johnson showing the statesmanship demonstrated by the previous occupants of 10 Downing Street – it is a sad reflection on him, and politics, that a call for transparency and truthfulness is needed on such a day.

It continues with the PM creating the best team possible to deliver Brexit without compromising the wider economy – the decisions he takes in the coming days will be critical if the country is to leave the EU and secure a trade deal next year. It’s still a big ask.

And it finishes with Mr Johnson putting in place the building blocks to reform Britain’s public services, most notably social care, and confront regional inequalities that have fermented for too long.

This newspaper, for one, will not allow him to put the Northern Powerhouse agenda, and our Power Up The North campaign, on the back-burner now he has been returned to 10 Downing Street for five years.

As we wish Boris Johnson well, we also hope he respects the trust placed in him by voters by ensuring that his new administration becomes a force for good for all corners of the land and all sections of society.