This New Noise: The Extraordinary Birth and Troubled Life of the BBC Charlotte Higgins Guardian Books , pp. 274 , £

After the nation voted in favour of Brexit in the EU referendum, Jeremy Corbyn faced a coup from Labour MPs left unsatisfied with his efforts for Remain. Leading the charge, Hilary Benn sparked a round of mass frontbench resignations after he said there was ‘no confidence' in Corbyn's ability to win the next election.

However, could it all have been part of an elaborate trick? Mr S only asks after Paul Mason appeared on Broadcasting House to discuss the situation. The former Channel 4 economics editor turned revolutionary said that he was certain Corbyn would win a general election:

“ 'I think Jeremy Corbyn will win. Or let's put it this way, he will be in a position to form a government.'

Mason went on to say that it is this ability to win that led Corbyn's colleagues to stage mass resignations. He claims that the 'guardians of elite power inside the Labour party' were so scared by Corbyn's electability that they text each other saying 'this is our last chance, otherwise the guy has the chance of leading the party into an election and that election is winnable':

“ 'That, of course, is what the Labour rebels were worried about on the day after Brexit . Remember the sequence of this. It looked like there was going to be an early general election with the Tories in disarray.'

With a recent YouGov poll finding that barely one-in-five voters want Jeremy Corbyn to be Prime Minister, it seems as though the influence of Labour's 'guardians of elite power' really is far-reaching.