Dua Lipa called on Boris Johnson to give NHS staff a pay rise at Tuesday night’s Brit Awards. 

The singer picked up the prize for Best British Solo Female at the ceremony, where she used her acceptance speech to honour healthcare workers for their efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Dua announced she would be sharing her award with nurse Dame Elizabeth Anionwu, the emeritus professor of nursing at the University of West London.

She then went on to say it is “very good to clap for them but we need to pay [NHS staff].

“I think what we should do is we should all give a massive, massive round of applause and give Boris a message that we all support a fair pay rise for our front line.”

During her speech, Dua also said she was “so proud” to see more women being recognised at the Brit Awards.

Dua was later awarded the coveted Best British Album prize for Future Nostalgia, becoming the night’s big winner. 

She dedicated the gong to Folajimi Olubunmi-Adewole, who was known as Jimi, who recently died after jumping into the River Thames to save a woman.

She had taken to the stage earlier in the evening to perform a medley of her recent hits, with her staging taking the theme of a London Underground carriage. 

Tuesday night’s Brit Awards were able to take place with an audience of 4,000 people as part of the government’s live events pilot scheme, with 2,500 tickets gifted to key workers from the Greater London area.

Elsewhere in the ceremony, Little Mix made history as the first female group to win the Best British Group prize.

Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall and Perrie Edwards gave a powerful acceptance speech referencing music industry sexism, as they also thanked former bandmate Jesy Nelson and other girl groups including the Spice Girls, who had paved the way.