Keir Starmer has hit back at claims he lacks passion and revealed his hurt at Labour's grim local election losses.
The Labour leader admitted the last few weeks had been difficult as he faced questions over his leadership following the party's defeat at the Hartlepool by-election in May.
The Tories won a decisive victory in Hartlepool - which has been red since 1974 - in another victory for Boris Johnson in Labour's former heartlands.
The Conservatives also made gains in local councils across England and scored victory in two key mayoral races - Tees Valley and the West Midlands.
Appearing on Piers Morgan's Life Stories tonight, Mr Starmer said: "Of course I’m not going to pretend the last few weeks have been easy.
"There’s a huge emotion that runs through the Labour Party and we lost in Hartlepool, we lost badly.
"When you want to win it hurts to lose, there’s emotion there."
Pressed on claims from critics that he lacks emotion, he said: “There’s a huge passion, but passion comes in different shapes and sizes.”
Mr Starmer added: “We’ve got a huge job, Titanic or otherwise.
"We need to make the persuasive argument about why Britain would be better under Labour.
"We need to be patriotic and proud of it.”
“The biggest change we need to make is a Labour Party that stops looking in on itself and looks out to the electorate, to the voters.
“I’m going to go and talk across the country this summer to people who are no longer voting Labour and hear for myself what they have to say and show that reconnection.”
Asked to sum up a Keir Starmer Britain, he said: “Pride in our country; dignity for children growing up, dignity at work; and change.”
The Labour leader also listed his top priorities as a first class education for every child, tackling insecurity and inequality and putting real dignity into old age.
Asked if he regards this as the pivotal moment for his career, he said: “Yes. For me, for my party, this chance at the next election isn’t going to come again.
"We’ve lost four in a row.
"This is not about me, it’s about what’s right for our country.”
Mr Starmer warned the Tories to "Move over! Move over, we’re coming".
And he said if he met Boris Johnson on the football pitch, he would "probably knock him over".
Mr Starmer also used the wide-ranging interview to discuss his pain at his mother's death and his "distant" and "difficult" relationship with his father Rodney.
- Piers Morgan's Life Stories will be aired on ITV at 9.30pm
