Ed Miliband vowed today to "carry on being what I am" as he staged a fightback amid the poor poll ratings.
The Labour leader said the party was more united than it had been in years and had enjoyed significant successes, including winning by-elections, gaining 850 additional councillors and 65,000 new members.
In an interview with the Mirror, he said: "This is a more united Labour Party than people have seen in a long time. That's the real truth.
"We are a party in the business of caring about what the public are thinking and looking outwards at the public, particularly given that 2012 will be a tough year for them.
"I'll carry on being what I am. I think that's what people want and I think it's the right thing to do.
"What I know about myself is a very strong sense of who I am and where the country needs to go. And I have a strong sense of conviction we are doing the right thing as a party."
He added: "The Government is doing too much to instil pessimism, too much to say there's going to be hard times and there's nothing that can be done.
"We don't accept that we are stuck in a rut of rising unemployment, low growth and bad prospects for people."