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07th May 2021

Keir Starmer takes ‘full responsibility’ for Labour’s poor election results

Claudia McInerney

Starmer admits that he is “disappointed” with the election results

The leader of the Opposition Party Keir Starmer has claimed that Labour has lost the trust of voters and said he takes “full responsibility” for the party’s poor results in the elections.

Speaking to Sky News this afternoon, Starmer said that he was hugely disappointed with the election results.

“I’m bitterly disappointed in the results. And I take full responsibility for the result,” he said.

Speaking about the next steps for the Labour party, he said: “I will take full responsibility for fixing things.”

“We have changed as a party. But we haven’t set out a strong enough case to the country,” Starmer said.

“Very often, we’ve been talking to ourselves instead of to the country, and we’ve lost the trust of working people, particularly in places like Hartlepool.

“I intend to do whatever is necessary to fix that,” he said.

Many voters in Hartlepool struggled to name any Labour policies ahead of the elections.

When pressed on whether he had detached himself too much from Jeremy Corbyn’s political agenda, the Labour leader said: “This is not a question of left or right, it’s a question of whether we’re facing the country.

“We have changed as a party, but we’ve not made a strong enough case to the country.

“We’ve lost that connection, that trust, and I intend to rebuild that and do whatever is necessary to rebuild that trust,” he said.

Discussing the changes he intends to make, Starmer said he will focus on “setting out that bold vision for a better Britain.”