Poor Jermey Corbyn isn’t having a great week so far, and it looks like it’s about to get even worse. Corbyn is facing yet more pressure as polling indicated more than half the members of Britain’s biggest trade union want him to quit.

Some 49% of people signed up to Unite want the Labour leader to go immediately while a further 10% believe he should resign before the next general election, according to a poll seen by the Guardian.

Among Labour voters, 61% said he is doing badly in the job, the YouGov Election Data survey found.

(Andrew Matthews/PA)

Overall, 35% said Corbyn should stay at the helm in the face of overwhelming opposition from MPs, MEPs and politicians in Scotland. The YouGov poll had a sample size of just 775 voters but will be seized on by opponents at proof that Corbyn’s support is not assured on the ground.

It was not commissioned by the union, which has 1.4 million members, and general secretary Len McCluskey was among the first to rally to Corbyn’s support as the attempted coup to oust him emerged. Corbyn is expected to face a leadership challenge in “the next few days”, according to his ally John McDonnell.

The shadow chancellor appealed to the party’s MPs to “calm down” and settle Labour’s differences through a democratic process. Corbyn is “staying as the leader of the Labour Party” and if there was a contest he could win, he insisted.

(Rick Findler/PA)

Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson is continuing to seek a meeting with Corbyn’s team to find a way of negotiating a settlement as the crisis engulfing the party shows no sign of abating. Former shadow business secretary Angela Eagle is expected to mount a challenge to Corbyn early next week, with ex-shadow work and pensions secretary Owen Smith also reported to be considering a bid.

In the last week around 60,000 people have joined Labour with the prospect of taking part in a leadership election.

(Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Momentum, the grassroots movement that supports Corybn, dismissed claims the leader could go after being offered a settlement that would ensure his top priorities were continued under his successor.

James Schneider, a national organiser, told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: “The coup plotters are now flailing about because they have had 10 months to plot this coup and it seems like it has failed.

“Jeremy Corbyn has shown incredible steel in staying there and not falling, and staying there on behalf of the principle of democracy in the party.”