These were very tough election results. It hurts to lose brilliant local candidates and leaders – friends and colleagues who represent the best of the Labour party. I take responsibility for that and feel it very deeply. It is right we reflect and learn the right lessons.

While the results will understandably lead to much debate about what’s changed in British politics, that should not overshadow the fact that for years voters have been deeply frustrated with the status quo – constantly hoping that things will get better and that politics will deliver real change in their lives.

That same frustration led to today’s political fragmentation. Because beneath the surface, the concerns expressed across different communities have more in common than some would like to admit. The struggle with the cost of living unites voters of all parties. They want strong and vibrant communities that people can feel pride in. They want strong and secure borders. And they want opportunity for the next generation – something that every parent, grandparent and young person hopes for.

They are the majority, no matter which party they vote for. And Labour should not turn its back on any of them. On the contrary, our job is to convince them that we have progressive answers to the problems and challenges that they face.

At the general election, we earned the mandate to deliver change, but we have not sustained the public’s trust that we are doing enough. And we have made unnecessary mistakes. While it was important to level with people about the legacy we inherited and the scale of the challenges this country faces, we did not do enough to convince them that their lives can improve, that their future can get better – to give them hope.

While we must respond to the message that voters have sent us, that doesn’t mean tacking right or left. It means bringing together a broad political movement, being assertive about our values, bold in our vision and addressing people’s demands. Unifying rather than dividing. That is the right approach for our party and, more importantly, it is the right approach for our country.

For two decades the country has been buffeted by crisis after crisis. And after the 2008 financial crash, austerity, Brexit, Covid and the Ukraine war, the response was always the same: desperately try to get back to the status quo. But the status quo isn’t working.

So, this time things will be different. We must break with the status quo once and for all by building a stronger and fairer country.

A stronger country – where family finances are not at the whim of tyrants such as Vladimir Putin, and where we stand shoulder to shoulder with our European allies to rebuild our defences, grow our economy and secure our future.

And a fairer country – where every child has the chance to thrive, where opportunity is not reserved for those who are born with it, and where people can look at their town, their workplace and their country with pride and hope.

That is the path I will be setting out in the coming days and the work my government will lead in the months and years ahead.

The right lesson is to listen to voters. To represent the majority who want a government that will confront the big challenges they face with real answers. Because that is when the Labour party is at its best. And that is how we will deliver the change that people are desperate for.

• Keir Starmer is the UK prime minister