Keir Starmer insisted he would carry on as British Prime Minister despite Labour suffering disastrous local election losses.
He acknowledged it had been a “tough” night for Labour but said that “days like this don’t weaken my resolve to deliver the change that I promised”.
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK made gains across the country as hundreds of Labour councillors were voted out, heaping pressure on the Prime Minister.
Starmer faces further heavy losses as vote counting continues throughout Friday in both English local elections and contests for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd.
In Wales, Labour is expected to lose the national vote for the first time in more than a century while the SNP appears likely to remain the largest party in Scotland after 19 years in power.
Keir Starmer, speaking at Kingsdown Methodist Church in Ealing, west London, on Friday morning, said: “The results are tough, they are very tough, and there’s no sugarcoating it.
“We have lost brilliant Labour representatives across the country, these are people who put so much into their communities, so much into our party.
“And that hurts, and it should hurt, and I take responsibility.”