"Facing Challenges and Learning from Mistakes, Sir Keir Vows to Lead Labour into the Election"

The Prime Minister today admits he has made mistakes – but said he is “coming out fighting” and vowed he will lead Labour into the next election.

In an exclusive interview with The Sun on Sunday just days after his premiership teetered on the brink, Keir Starmer conceded that it had been “a tough week”, adding: “When you do my job, you have tough weeks.”

Sir Keir Starmer admits he has made mistakes – but said he is ‘coming out fighting’ and vowed he will lead Labour into the next electionCredit: PA The PM with The Sun on Sunday’s Political Editor Kate FergusonCredit: Stefan Rousseau The PM has endured the worst fortnight of his reign after being rocked by the Peter Mandelson scandalCredit: PA

The PM has endured the worst fortnight of his reign after being rocked by and an attempt by to topple him from No10.

And senior women have accused his regime of being a “boys club” that peddled “toxic” sexist briefings.

In his first sit down interview since his premiership was plunged into its biggest crisis yet, admitted things had been “tough”.

What the party wants, what the government wants, is to be utterly focused on what matters

Starmer

But he insisted he is the man to clean up politics and told who tried to oust him that he is not going anywhere.

He said: “I won the leadership of the Labour Party when people said I wouldn’t. I changed the Labour Party when people said I couldn’t. I won an election when people said we wouldn’t.

“And now I intend to change the country – whatever other people say.”

Asked if he will lead Labour into the , Sir Keir said “absolutely.”

The PM was speaking just days after leader led a bid to try to oust him from .

And speculation continues to swirl that ambitious Health Secretary and ex-deputy PM are ready to mount a leadership challenge.

Labour is also facing the prospect of defeat in the upcoming by-election in , Greater Manchester, and a bloodbath in the May .

The PM sacked Mandelson, who is currently being investigated by police over his ties to dead paedophile EpsteinCredit: AP

Asked directly what his message was to plotters scheming to try to oust him, the PM said: “I think it’s absolutely clear that the party does not want to descend into the chaos of the last government.

“That is crystal clear.

“What the party wants, what the government wants, is to be utterly focused on what matters.

Keir Starmer is like a cat with nine lives – and he is on his eighth

A Labour MP

“That is the safety and security of every citizen and the cost of living, and that cannot be achieved if we don’t face up to the huge threats that we face as a country.”

Sir Keir saw off the bid to topple him on Monday after Cabinet ministers rallied round and tweeted their support for him after a desperate rearguard action in Downing Street.

But there is no doubt the PM still faces the fight of his political life to prove to his MPs – and the country – that he is the right man to lead Britain.

The PM told the Sun on Sunday: ‘I think it’s absolutely clear that the party does not want to descend into the chaos of the last government’Credit: Stefan Rousseau

The fallout from his disastrous decision to make Peter Mandelson US ambassador has erupted into the biggest political scandal in decades.

is being investigated by police over his ties to dead paedophile , although he has always maintained he is not guilty of criminal wrongdoing.

Sir Keir sacked last September when fresh revelations of his links to emerged, but still faces questions over why he appointed him in the first place.

The embattled PM is also facing fury over his decision to make his former PR adviser a Labour peer despite his ties to a man convicted of child sex offences.

Doyle campaigned for Sean Morton to become a councillor after he was charged with possessing images of child porn including of girls as young as ten.

Speaking to The Sun on Sunday at the Munich security conference yesterday, the PM admitted “it was a mistake” to appoint Peter Mandelson.

I think it’s absolutely clear that the party does not want to descend into the chaos of the last government

Sir Keir Starmer

He said had “lied” to him and Doyle had also failed to tell the full truth.

But the PM conceded the buck stops with him – and said he is determined to “change” politics.

Sir Keir said: “I take responsibility for my decisions, and I have done all week. And I was very clear in my apology in relation to Peter Mandelson, to the public and to my party.

“But I was also equally clear that there has to be change and there has to be follow through, and that’s why I’ve already begun the necessary change as a result of this week.

“But what matters about a tough week is how you come out of it – whether you come out fighting and more determined.

“And I’m coming out fighting and more determined than I’ve ever been.”

I take responsibility for my decisions, and I have done all week. And I was very clear in my apology in relation to Peter Mandelson, to the public and to my party

Sir Keir Starmer

Asked if appointing is the biggest mistake he has made since becoming PM, Sir Keir retorted: “I’m not going to list mistakes in rank order.

“It was a mistake.”

In a direct message to Sun on Sunday readers, he added: “Yes it’s been a tough week. When you do my job, you have tough weeks. The question is, how you come out of it.

“And I’ve come out of it determined to fight for the things that matter most to your readers.”

Sir Keir’s decision to appoint two men to political positions despite their friendships with paedophiles has caused fury among his MPs – particularly women.

And it has raised questions about the type of government he runs.

Speculation continues to swirl that ex-deputy PM Angela Rayner is ready to mount a leadership challengeCredit: Crown Copyright

Culture Secretary accused No10 of being a “boys club” and said she and others had been the victims of misogynistic briefing.

In a frank admission, Sir Keir said politics does have a woman problem and vowed to “lead from the front” to crack down on it.

He hit out the “structural misogyny”’ with blights politics and vowed to end the “appalling” briefings against his female Cabinet members.

Sir Keir added: “We need to change.

“I’m coming out of this fighting, fighting for what I believe in, fighting for who I’m here to represent and what I’m here to represent.”

After the weeks of scandal and instability, the PM wants to focus his premiership on two things: tackling the cost of living and beefing up defence and security.

I’m coming out fighting and more determined than I’ve ever been

Sir Keir Starmer

We are speaking at the Munich Security Conference, where the word’s political leaders and military top brass are assembled.

The PM has just given a speech comparing the threat posed by to the one the West faced from the in the 1930s.

Back then, political leaders were too late to wake up to the threat, he warns.

The West must not make the same mistake again, he said.

This means closer defence and economic cooperation with .

said he wants Britain to have a closer relationship with the EU’s single market – but denied this meant unpicking .

Health Secretary Wes Streeting also has ambitions to lead the partyCredit: PA

He said: “We are not reversing Brexit.

“But we’re turning our back on the Britain of the Brexit years that we’ve had for the last decade, which has been a Britain that has turned inward, that has not been able to assert itself and influence others on the world stage or the European stage.”

But the recent weeks of sleaze and scandal threaten to drown out this work.

Keir Starmer has lost his , , communications chief and civil service chief all in the past week.

His regime is in its fourth reset.

One Labour MP tells me that “Keir Starmer is like a cat with nine lives – and he is on his eighth”.

A common complaint among Labour MPs is that they don’t know what Starmer stands for.

So what is Starmerism?

“It means that every single person should have the dignity, the respect and the chance that they deserve in life, and too many people don’t have that chance.”