LABOUR leader Jeremy Corbyn has said he takes some of the blame for his party's "deeply disappointing" defeat in the Copeland by-election.

Mr Corbyn said his party hasn't done enough to rebuild trust with voters but insists now is not the time to "retreat, run away of give up" despite the blow of losing a Labour stronghold in Cumbria.

"Labour's share of the vote in Copeland has been falling for 20 years and of course I take my share of responsibility.

"Both these areas [Copeland and Stoke], like many others in Britain, have been left behind by globalisation and lost out from a rigged economy," he said, writing in the Sunday Mirror.

"We haven't done enough yet to rebuild trust with people who have been ripped off and sold out for decades and don't feel Labour represents them.

"But if we stand together, I am confident we can do that and turn back the Tort tide."

He added he wanted to finish the job he was elected to do: "To reconnect Labour with our working class voters and values so we can win power to rebuild and transform Britain."

The defeat prompted heavy criticism from David Miliband who said the party is now further from power than any time in the last 50 years.

The US-based former foreign secretary said he was "deeply concerned" after Jeremy Corbyn made it clear he is determined to continue leading the party, despite losing the Copeland seat to the Tories.

Mr Miliband has also refused to rule out a future run for the Labour leadership, although he admitted a return to frontline politics was "hard to see" at present.

Mr Miliband said: "I'm obviously deeply concerned that Labour is further from power than at any stage in my lifetime."

Asked about his future, he added: "I honestly don't know what I'm going to do.

"It's hard to see, but what's the point of saying never?"

MPs have warned the party was on course for a "catastrophic" general election defeat after the Conservatives snatched the Cumbrian seat of Copeland which had been held by Labour since its creation in 1983.

Trudy Harrison claimed the west Cumbria seat for the Conservatives at election night on Thursday, securing a seat that had been Labour-held - formerly as the constituency of Whitehaven - for more than 80 years.

Her triumph was also the first gain for a governing party in a parliamentary by-election since 1982.

There was some consolation for Labour in Stoke-on-Trent Central, where it saw off a concerted challenge from Ukip leader Paul Nuttall, albeit with a reduced majority.

But there was despair among MPs at the defeat in Copeland, with John Woodcock, MP for neighbouring Barrow-in-Furness, warning the party was heading for a "historic and catastrophic defeat" at the general election.