Jeremy Corbyn will not lead the Labour Party at the next general election, he has confirmed.
He made the announcement as he regained his seat as the Member of Parliament for Islington North with a massive 26,000 majority.
Mr Corbyn said he "will not lead the party in any future general election campaign" but he will lead the party during a period of "reflection and discussion".
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During his speech, he thanked his constituents, saying it filled him with "pride and pleasure" to represent them.
He then brought up the criticism he and others had faced during the campaign, saying that the pressure "on those surrounding politicians is often very, very high indeed and the media intrusion in people's lives is very high indeed".
The 70-year-old then turned to the disappointing result of the election.
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He said: "Obviously it is a very disappointing night for the party. But I want to say this - in the election campaign we put forward a manifesto of hope.
"However, Brexit has so polarised debate it has overridden so much of normal political debate."
This comes as the Labour Party faces one of the worst election defeats in its history, with the Conservative Party set to gain dozens of seats in the House of Commons.
The forecasted numbers in a poll carried out by ITV, BBC, Sky and Ipsos Mori showed 368 seats for the Tories against 191 for Labour.
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More that 20,000 people were asked at over 140 polling stations.
Speaking to the BBC about the projected result, Professor Sir John Curtice said: "With Leave-voting Britain swinging heavily to the Conservatives, it looks as though they will end the election with a very comfortable majority of around 64 seats.
"However, in Scotland it is the SNP who look as though they will dominate the outcome with a performance not far short of what it achieved in 2015.
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"Labour's tally of seats could well still be less than the 209 seats that the party won in 1983."
Reflecting on the likely defeat, the former adviser to Labour PM Tony Blair Alastair Campbell told the BBC that he believed Brexit and anti-Semitism were the main issues that caused problems for Labour in the run-up to the election.
He said: "This is not just a defeat for Jeremy Corbyn, this is defeat for the politics he represents.
"What people in the North have been saying is that Jeremy Corbyn and his politics does not represent them.
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"This delusion that if they just have to keep on with this Corbynism eventually the British public will flock to support it - it is never going to happen.
"Fundamental truths have to be faced otherwise Labour party faces oblivion."
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