Gordon Brown took responsibility yesterday for last week’s electoral bloodbath, assuring voters that he felt their pain. But he insisted that he was the man to lead Britain through the troubled economic times ahead.

The Prime Minister had consulted his Cabinet colleagues before a media blitz designed to show people that he understood why he had taken such a battering but had the resilience to fight back and put things right.

He used interviews with the BBC and Sky to admit his mistakes over the abolition of the 10p tax rate, allowing speculation over a general election last autumn to run on too long, and spending too much time on the detail of policies rather than explaining and selling them to the public.

He insisted that Labour could recover in time for the next election and even cited the example of John McCain, who he said had been written off a year ago only to be the Republican candidate in the United States now.

He began his appearance on The Andrew Marr Show on BBC One with a clear acknowledgement of the reason’s behind Labour’s drubbing in Thursday’s local elections: “It is undoubtedly the case, going round the country, that there is a sense of hurt and a sense of feeling, ‘What is happening to my daily budget, what is happening to the bill at the supermarket and what is happening to the cost of living?’

“We have got to show, as we have done in the past, that we can come through these difficult economic times, make sure people feel safer in their jobs and their mortgages and make sure that people know that this economic plan we have for the future is taking us out of the downturn and preparing for the upturn.”

He added: “What people are most worried about — and I do understand this and I feel the hurt they feel — [is that] petrol prices are going up, food prices are going up, they are worried about utilities bills, they are worried about their standard of living, there is an uncertainty about the economy . . .

“People’s immediate priority is how to deal with the family budgets and the problems we face as a result of what is an economic downturn which started in America.

“My first focus and immediate priority is how we get through this difficult economic time which is causing, I think, so much anxiety and insecurity in this country.”

Mr Brown was contrite about the electoral losses, saying: “I feel responsible. There are no excuses on my part at all.”

Responding to criticism about his personality, he said: “I think it is true that I am a more private person in a public arena. Perhaps I have spent too much time . . . looking at the detail to solving people’s problems. But to solve people’s problems you have got to understand their problems.

“I come from a pretty ordinary background. We as a family felt the pinch when things were wrong. We as a family felt under pressure when the economy was going through difficult times. I understand what people are thinking and I understand what people are feeling and I believe that I’m the right person to take the country through these difficult times.”

He said that he would leave Westminster and go around the country “far more often” in an effort to connect with voters. “I think it’s more important to get out there, to be there in the country listening to what people say,” he said.

The lesson he had learnt from Labour’s bruising at the ballot box was that “you have got to be resilient in the face of adversity but you have also got to understand, and understand very clearly, how people are seeing things”. He added: “I am someone who believes passionately in opportunity and fairness. I believe that, over the last ten years, I have shown that I can take people through difficult circumstances, including economic problems.

“I believe that the real Gordon Brown is someone who is standing up at all times for hard-working families in this country. That’s what makes me tick. That’s what I am about. That’s what the dividing line in politics is.”

He appeared to accept that Labour is now the underdog in the electoral battle for Britain, although he said that he relished the fight to come against David Cameron. He told BBC viewers: “If we are the underdog, we are certainly fighting and we are fighting hard.

“We are standing up for people facing difficulties, standing up for what I believe — and what I believe is that opportunity for every citizen in this country should be greater than it is at the moment — standing up against a Conservative Party that looks like slick salesmen but actually doesn’t have the answers to the real challenges this country is facing.

“That is the choice the country will face over the next few years.”

Mr Brown dismissed talk of a leadership challenge and said he did not think that “many MPs” were discussing the issue. He also ruled out standing down because “there’s still a job to do”.

He did not rule out the possibility of dropping the 2p increase in fuel duty deferred by Alistair Darling in the Budget, which is now due to take effect in the autumn. Asked whether the rise would go ahead, Mr Brown told Sunday Live on Sky News: “That is a decision for the Chancellor. He said he would review it and he will review it.”

Could he still defeat Mr Cameron? “Of course we can recover from this position and I will tell you how. First of all by sorting out the immediate problem with the economy and showing people we can come through, as we have in the past, very difficult economic times. Secondly by showing people we have a vision of the future that will carry the country — optimistically in my view — into its next phase.”

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