The ability to say “I was wrong” or to own up to your mistakes is very powerful. I teach my children that admitting fault is the quickest way to stop the problem, move on and get on with whatever it is you should be doing. This was clearly not a lesson learned by Theresa May. Her inability to just say “Sorry, folks, turns out you didn’t like the dementia tax, so I’ve changed my mind” has cost her dear.

The desire to look strong and decisive, instead of looking human, is the fatal flaw of so many politicians, and I will never understand why the favoured path of the political class is akin to a child with chocolate smeared on their face insisting that they didn’t eat the edible Christmas tree ornaments while their parents slept. We all cock up; we should own it and move on.

A little bit of mea culpa goes a long way, and the Labour party has a lot of humble-pie eating to do, too. We shall return to parliament this week; I would be lying if I denied that I cannot wait to sit opposite the Tories and laugh at their massive arrogance and complacency, but we have to get our own house in order, too. If Labour reacts to the election result with its own complacency, we will look like a party happy to be in opposition.

For those of us who always worried about Jeremy Corbyn’s electability, it is time to stand up and say that we got some of that wrong. There will be a number of different reactions from my colleagues in the parliamentary Labour party who doubted Corbyn. One camp will just jump on the Team Corbyn bandwagon and sign up wholesale to whatever it takes to be in the gang. Another group will still remain a thorn in his side, blindly rejecting the positives, not dissimilar to the group Corbyn was part of in the Blair years.

The group I will be in is the one that recognises that we didn’t win this election, but we are on the way to winning the next one if we get it right. I will never be a blinkered cheerleader of anyone (ask my kids), and while I got his electability half wrong I would be doing him and the country a disservice by donning the white robes of worship and ignoring my concerns.

Throughout the election I have communicated with Jeremy on a number of occasions. One was pretty robust: I was cross after horrid, vicious sexism towards me from his supporters. One time was after the exit poll and was more akin to the kind of text message that you send your mate who just snogged the fittest boy at a party. The rest of the time it was with genuine advice and guidance ahead of the debates or appearances. I told him what I was hearing on the streets and what might and might not work. To this, he responds well.

This is how I think the party must go forward. We must be robust when we think we are getting stuff wrong, elated and celebratory when we are getting things right, and honest and helpful when we think we can be.

I have not always behaved well. I can admit that. I get things wrong, I learn. The most important thing for everybody to remember is that the hung parliament tells us we all got it wrong. So let’s be grown up enough to admit that, and then we can all just get on with sorting it out.

Jess Phillips is the MP for Birmingham Yardley