Badenoch says 'I'm sorry' after elections rout - as Starmer vows to 'deliver' for voters After the rise of Reform UK, the leaders of the two major parties have come out to acknowledge the rejection voters handed them, and set out what they plan to do going forward. Kemi Badenoch has penned an op-ed for The Telegraph in which she apologises to Tory councillors who lost their seats. "I'm deeply sorry to see so many capable, hard-working Conservative councillors lose their seats," she wrote. "They didn't deserve it – and they weren't the reason we lost." The reason, she wrote, is that 14 years in government and a devastating election loss last July "had sapped morale and resources from Conservative headquarters". She also pointed out that they were fighting the election from the 2021 Boris Johnson, post-vaccine high. But Badenoch insisted she is "making progress", however - saying the party "has stayed united since I took over". She said these results showed "the scale of the work needed to rebuild trust in the Conservative Party and the importance of redoubling our efforts to show that this party is under new leadership and is doing things differently". Sir Keir Starmer has written in The Times newspaper, in which he wrote that he won't roll out the usual excuses for losing an election mid-term. "I get it," the PM said. But he also set expectations, saying: "People want this country turned around. But they also know that it needs proper tending to: that the business of sorting it out will take time and work, not more empty promises." He made the case for the changes he has made so far, insisting there is "real, tangible proof that things are finally beginning to go in the right direction". But he said he is "not even close" to satisfied, and vowed: "I'm not going to navel-gaze or turn inward. I'm going to deliver for you and your family. More money in your pocket, lower NHS waiting lists, lower immigration numbers. "The path we are on may not always be smooth — but it will take us to the place we all want."