Suffolk MP Dr Dan Poulter said new Prime Minister has sent MPs home to their constituencies for the summer with a spring in their step after his first appearance in the House of Commons as Prime Minister.

The MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, who backed Mr Johnson in the Conservative Party leadership contest, said he and his colleagues were looking forward to an early general election - but he did not expect to go to the polls this year.

He said: "I think there is a sense of optimism back in the Commons now - a feeling that we are going somewhere again after three years of struggling to get anywhere.

"I think the new cabinet will be anxious to get things done, especially to get Brexit sorted out, and I think we will have a general election earlier than planned."

Dr Poulter did not expect to be going back to the polls this year unless there was a really serious problem in the House of Commons.

"You can never be sure what will happen with the current arithmetic in the House of Commons - but I expect the government to continue until next May. I think we could be going for an election on the day of the next Police and Crime Commissioner elections."

Dr Poulter had been heartened by some of the early announcements by Mr Johnson which, he said, heralded the end of the age of austerity after almost 10 years of very tight controls over public spending.

He said: "It looks as if there will be more money for schools which we badly need, and for the police which is a real concern for many people.

"And hopefully there will be more to invest in the A14 - there is a real need for improvements to be made to the junctions in Suffolk.

"I am hopeful that the new government seems to see investment in infrastructure like broadband as a priority and I hope that will be good for this region."

MPs are not due back in the House of Commons until early September when they meet for two weeks before the party conference season.

That is likely to be Mr Johnson's first major test with disgruntled former ministers that he sacked on Wednesday joining other pro-European Tories in opposition to his new government's acceptance that it might be necessary to press for a no deal Brexit at the end of October.