The move will see the minimum wage rise to £8.74 for over 25s, with the change set to take place on April first. “Hard work should always pay, but for too long, people haven’t seen the pay rises they deserve,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement. The pay rise comes as Britain has seen its unemployment rate fall to its lowest since the 1970s with employment recently hitting a record high.

Minimum pay rates for younger workers will also increase by between 4.6 percent and 6.5 percent, depending on their age.

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said: “Raising wage floors by more than double the rate of inflation will pile further pressure on cash flow and eat into training and investment budgets.

“For this policy to be sustainable, government must offset these costs by reducing others – and impose a moratorium on any further upfront costs for business.”

Minimum wage and a potential increase were key issues in the run up to the election earlier this month with both sides promising potential increases.

Sajid Javid said his new five-year target to raise the national living wage and reduce the age at which people could receive it from 25 to 21 meant the Conservatives were now the “workers’ party”.

The changes would benefit 4 million people.

Labour also promised increases but they targeted all workers over 16 and said the increases would take effect immediately after they came to power.

The government’s target to increase the national living wage from £8.21 to £10.50 would increase an individual’s net earnings by £1,900 over the five years.

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“Over the next five years, we will make the UK the first major economy in the world to end low pay altogether,” Mr Javid said.

“The hard work of the British people is paying off. It’s clear it’s the Conservatives who are the real party of labour. We are the workers’ party,” he said.

With the promise of a higher wage comes other plans Mr Johnson has promised to work on in the New Year.

The Prime Minister promised to increase NHS spending, GP appointments and nurses, introduce Australian style points-based immigration system and increase policing levels by 20,000.

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He also pledged to implement “colossal new investments in infrastructure and science, using our technological advantages to make this country the cleanest, greenest on earth, with the most far-reaching environmental programme.”

He added: “And you the people of this country voted to be carbon-neutral in this election – you voted to be carbon-neutral by 2050. And we’ll do it.”

The NHS was a huge point of contention during the election, and Mr Johnson said his “one nation Conservative government will massively increase our investment in the NHS.”

He continued: “The health service that represents the very best of our country with a single beautiful idea, that whoever we are – rich, poor, young, old – the NHS is there for us when we are sick.

“And every day that service performs miracles.”

Another of Mr Johnson’s election pledges will be under focus come May, as on May 31, free TV licenses for over 75-year-olds will expire.

Announced by the BBC in 2019, the call for pensioners to pay for their TV licenses was met with fierce opposition.

Mr Johnson previously vowed in his election campaign to talk to the BBC and “sort it out”.

On October 4, 2020, Mr Johnson will host his second-ever party conference as Prime Minister.

He will be joined in Birmingham by the 109 new Conservative MPs, and perhaps more if they make the journey from London.

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