Boris Johnson has used his Tory conference speech to quash accusations of dissent by heaping praise on Theresa May.

The Foreign Secretary said he backed "every syllable" of Mrs May's recent Florence speech, which revealed plans for a two-year transitional exit.

And he claimed the whole country owed the Prime Minister a debt for "her steadfastness in taking Britain forward".

"She won more votes than any party leader and took this party to its highest share of the vote in any election in the last 25 years," a packed hall of delegates in Manchester heard.

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"We are leaving the EU - but as the PM has said in her Florence speech, we can create a deep and special partnership built on free trade with a strong EU buttressed and supported by a strong UK."

The show of unity will likely quell some Tory MPs' fears that Mr Johnson is preparing an immediate coup for the leadership.

But he did stray beyond his foreign affairs brief, which could bolster speculation about his future ambitions for the top job.

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Image: May gave a landmark speech on Brexit in Florence last month

The Uxbridge MP also bashed Jeremy Corbyn, calling him a "NATO-bashing, Trident-scrapping, would-be abolisher of the British Army".

He accused the Labour leader of siding with Nicolas Maduro's regime in Venezuela "simply because they are fellow lefties".

Mr Johnson finished his speech with a call to arms, saying it was time for the "lion" to "roar", to one of the most rapturous applauses of the four-day conference.

Image: Johnson said it was time for the 'lion' to 'roar' after Brexit

"We have been privileged collectively to be placed in charge of this amazing country at a critical moment in our history," he said.

"We are not the lion. We do not claim to be the lion.

"That role is played by the people of this country. But it is up to us now - in the traditional non-threatening, genial and self-deprecating way of the British - to let that lion roar."

Labour MP and Open Britain supporter Chuka Umuna said that after "weeks of hostile briefings, leaks and red lines, Boris Johnson succeeded in saying absolutely nothing of substance about Brexit in his speech today".

He added: "Boris looks like a kitten with a head cold, not a lion."

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Mrs May will make the headline speech of the Conservative conference on Wednesday.

Earlier, she repeatedly dodged questions over whether her Foreign Secretary was unsackable, telling Sky News: "You keep asking me about Boris and Boris's job.

"Actually for the people watching this programme I think what they want is a Government that's focused on their jobs, on their futures, on their children's' futures and that's what we're talking about here at this conference."