Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell today ruled himself out of a future Labour leadership race. Latest opinion polls put Labour 17 points behind the Conservatives but Mr McDonnell said he would never seek to replace Mr Corbyn.

I tried a couple of times. Jeremy's the leader now. I will never stand for the leader of the Labour party again. JOHN MCDONNELL MP, SHADOW CHANCELLOR

In an interview with ITV's The Late Debate, Mr McDonnell also refused to apologise for his 'feeding seal' slur against the Prime Minister. He described Theresa May's recent laughter in the Commons as 'guffawing like a feeding seal'. He denied being rude.

I was really angry. It isn't inappropriate, it's Parliamentary language. Can you remember the 'savaged by a dead sheep' and those sorts of expressions? We saw a Prime Minister and a Chancellor guffawing and laughing at what? Cutting basically the incomes of low earners. JOHN MCDONNELL MP, SHADOW CHANCELLOR

Chancellor Philip Hammond and Prime Minister Theresa May listen to Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell. Credit: PA

The Hayes and Harlington MP went on to reveal an unexpected new-found appreciation of Blair era spin chief Lord Mandelson. Former European Trade Commissioner Lord Mandelson was known as New Labour's Prince of Darkness. He now advises London mayor Sadiq Khan on Brexit.

He's got the expertise we need. We want to pick his brain as well. He knows how to negotiate trade deals. What we need is people with experience like Peter Mandelson and others who bring this debate around Brexit into the real world. JOHN MCDONNELL MP, SHADOW CHANCELLOR