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A Hull MP and Jeremy Corbyn critic – who quit the leader’s top team last year – has admitted he has “eaten humble pie” after Labour unexpectedly won seats during the general election.

Karl Turner, who was re-elected MP for Hull East with an increased majority last week, said the party was now “united” behind Mr Corbyn – despite the vast majority of MPs wanting him out of the job less than a year ago.

Mr Corbyn faced accusations in the immediate aftermath of the European referendum result that his campaigning in the lead up to the vote had been lacklustre.

It resulted in 44 front bench resignations and 172 MPs backing a motion of no confidence in him before a failed leadership bid by Owen Smith, who was made Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary this week, led to Mr Corbyn being re-elected.

But at the general election, despite the prediction that the party could lose tens of seats, Labour managed to claw back a 20 point deficit in the polls to win more than 30 seats, in a result that saw MPs in tight marginal seats claim big majorities.

Both Diana Johnson in Hull North and Mr Turner in Hull East increased their majorities, while new MP Emma Hardy won Hull West and Hessle with an increased vote share.

Mr Turner said more MPs needed to come clean and admit they were wrong about Mr Corbyn, suggesting that something was “happening” in the country.

“Look – I’ve eaten humble pie. I think a few more in the [Parliamentary Labour Party] need to do that,” said Mr Turner.

“You’ve got to be honest – this is someone who gets thousands of people together to listen to what he has got to say. Something is happening.”

The ex-shadow attorney general said he now believes he should have had the “confidence to stick with it” when members of the shadow cabinet were resigning last summer.

Mr Corbyn fired Hilary Benn as shadow foreign secretary less than three days after the leave vote, and by that evening, Mr Turner had become the 11th member of Labour’s top team to resign.

Four months later, however, Mr Turner returned to the fold and accepted his leader’s offer of a job as an opposition whip.

“It was people like me who were tasked with the job of keeping the order in the PLP,” he said in a video interview with Twitter user Artist Taxi Driver.

“At times, it was very difficult, I’ve got to tell you. But I tell you what – his performance in the PLP meeting [on Tuesday after the general election] was just unbelievable.

“He performed like I’ve never seen him ever before. I think the party is genuinely united behind Jeremy.”

Asked why he was so critical of the Islington North MP during the leadership race last year, in which Mr Turner was a vocal backer of challenger Mr Smith, the qualified barrister said he was simply defending himself from left-wing “attacks”.

“There was a point when I was being attacked by what you’d call the ‘Corbynistas’ and I was fighting back,” said Mr Turner.

“Do you know what? I never attacked Jeremy on policy, is the truth. And I didn’t attack him outside of a leadership campaign.

“But there was a time, it’s true, that I was fighting back when I was under attack.”

Mr Corbyn has been praised his week for his “human” response to the Grenfell tower fire, the west London disaster which has claimed at least 30 lives (although this figure is expected to rise).

He was pictured hugging victims of the fire and listening to community leader’s on the action they would like to see.

Theresa May, on the other hand, was criticised for failing to meet survivors during her first trip to the burnt out block of flats, initially choosing to meet only emergency service personnel in private.