Sir Keir Starmer has admitted that Labour has lost voters’ trust and said he takes “full responsibility” for its poor performance in this week’s elections.

In a TV interview recorded several hours after the devastating loss of Hartlepool to Boris Johnson’s Tories, the Labour leader said he was “bitterly disappointed” by the results.

He admitted that Labour had not made its case strongly enough to voters and said the party had too often been “talking to ourselves” rather than to the people it hoped to lead.

Sir Keir said: “I take full responsibility for the results, and 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. 

“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.”

Challenged over whether he had moved too far away from the left-wing agenda of Jeremy Corbyn, Sir Keir replied: 

“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.”

Sir Keir said that Labour now needs to present a “bold vision for a better Britain, changing the things that need changing”.

He added: “Our vision is of a country that ends the injustice and inequality that millions of people face every day.”