Read in Full: Starmer's make or break speech following election disaster

Want LBC stories before everyone else? Set us as your Preferred Source on Google

The prime minister is fighting to save his job after Labour lost more than 1,400 seats in Thursday's local elections and control of 37 councils.

In his speech, he pledged to nationalist British Steel, put the UK "at the heart of Europe" and said he would prove his doubters wrong.

Sir Keir said he would fight any leadership challenge, saying he would not “walk away” despite several names now being linked to challenging him.

Here is every word he said in his speech on Monday to Labour members.

Sir Keir Starmer's full speech

The election results last week were tough—very tough. We lost some brilliant Labour representatives. That hurts. And it should hurt. I get it. I feel it. And I take responsibility.

But it's not just about taking responsibility for the results. It's about taking responsibility to explain how, as a political and electoral force, we will be better and do better in the months and years ahead—because we are not just facing dangerous times, but dangerous opponents. Very dangerous opponents. This hurts not just because Labour has done badly, but because if we don't get this right, our country will go down a very dark path.

So, just as I take responsibility for the results, I also take responsibility for delivering the change that we promised for a stronger and fairer Britain that we must build. I take responsibility for navigating us through a world that is more dangerous than any time in my life, and I take responsibility for not walking away—not plunging our country into chaos as the Tories did time and again. Chaos that did lasting damage to this country. A Labour government would never be forgiven for inflicting that on our country again.

I know that people are frustrated by the state of Britain, frustrated by politics, and some people are frustrated with me. I know I have my doubters, and I know I need to prove them wrong—and I will.

Let me start on a personal note. Like every Prime Minister, I've learned a lot in the first two years in terms of the policy challenges that our country faces. Incremental change won't cut it on growth, defence, Europe, and energy. We need a bigger response than we anticipated in 2024 because these are not ordinary times.

This is a political challenge just as much as it's a policy challenge. Delivery is, of course, essential, but it's not sufficient on its own to address the frustration that voters feel. Analysis matters, but argument matters more. Evidence matters, but so too does emotion. Stories beat spreadsheets. People need hope.

We will face up to the big challenges and we will make the big arguments: the Labour case that only Labour values and Labour policies can ensure our country not only weathers these storms but emerges stronger and fairer. The Labour case is that neither Nigel Farage nor Zack Polanski offers our country the serious, progressive leadership that these times demand.

Of course, like every government, we've made mistakes, but we got the big political choices right. If we'd listened to the advice of other parties right now, we'd be stuck in a standoff with Iran, having been dragged into a war that is not in our interest. I will never do that.

We have invested in our public services, in people, and in the pride of Britain's communities. Difficult decisions funded that. But now NHS waiting lists are coming down. Child poverty is coming down. Immigration is coming down. And we are rebuilding from the ground up. Those were the right calls.

Most of all, we stabilised the economy. The fundamentals are sound. That matters because it puts us in a much better place to come out of the conflict in Iran stronger and fairer, and for living standards to improve after two decades of stagnation. But that's not enough. Clearly, no. For the British people, tired of a status quo that has failed them, change cannot come quickly enough.

Truth be told, I'm not sure that they believe that we care. I'm not sure they believe that we see their lives. It's tough to say when you come from a working-class background like mine. It's hard to hear that. I do know what it's like to struggle and to strive. But what I take from it is that I spend too much time talking about what I am doing for working people and not enough time talking about why or who I stand for.

I can see how hard life has been during these decades of crisis. My late brother, Nick, spent all his adult life going from one job to the next. The status quo did not work for him. My sister is a carer, working long hours for low pay year after year after year. She didn't even get sick pay in a pandemic. The status quo did not work for her. For too long we ignored people like that—millions of people in that boat who don't get the dignity, the respect, or the chance they deserve. I am fighting for them.

What we did in Scunthorpe last year is one of the proudest things we have done in government. That plant was hours away from closure, which would have meant thousands of jobs gone and an entire region decimated. We acted. As a united Labour Party, we passed emergency legislation and we took control.

We must bring that same urgency to everything now, starting with steel. Strong nations need to make steel. That's why we're backing steel in Port Talbot and across the UK. In Scunthorpe, a commercial sale has not been possible, and a public interest test has been met. I can announce that legislation will be brought forward this week to give the government powers to take full national ownership of British Steel in the public interest.

I want to remind you what Nigel Farage said about Brexit. He said it would make us richer; it made us poorer. He said it would reduce migration; migration went through the roof. He said it would make us more secure; it made us weaker. He took Brexit and then fled the scene. He is not just a grifter; he is a chancer.

At the next EU summit, I will set a new direction. This Labour government will be defined by rebuilding our relationship with Europe. We will restore Erasmus, but I want to go further. We will propose an ambitious youth experience scheme so our young people can work, study, and live in Europe again.

I mean every child—the kids growing up in poverty, those with special educational needs, and the kids who are ignored because society only puts those who go to university on a pedestal. We will invest in apprenticeships, Technical Excellence Colleges, and a guaranteed offer of a job, training, or work placement for every young person.

Other parties want more grievance politics and division. You’ll see it again on Saturday at a march designed to confront and intimidate this diverse country. That is why this Labour government will block far-right agitators from travelling to Britain for that event, because this is nothing less than a battle for the soul of our nation.

We cannot win as a weaker version of Reform or the Greens. We can only win as a stronger version of Labour. I will never stop fighting for the decent, respectful, diverse country that I love. I will never give up on the hope of a country taking control of its future—a stronger, fairer Britain. That is the hope I'm fighting for.