He could not, however, finalise a new shadow cabinet until he knew how many empty chairs there would be, and the resignations were not over. Vernon Coaker, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, quit shortly before 5pm. Within the hour Lord Falconer, the shadow justice secretary, became the next, and biggest, name to resign.

Just after 7pm shadow attorney general Karl Turner said that with a "very heavy heart" he had notified Mr Corbyn of his resignation. Later that evening, shadow leader of the Commons Chris Bryant became the next senior figure to announce he could no longer work with Mr Corbyn, declaring: "We need someone new to lead and unite Labour."

Tom Watson, finally back from Somerset, said he was “saddened” by the resignations but also “deeply disappointed” by Mr Benn’s sacking.

He fell a long way short of a hearty endorsement for his leader. "It's very clear to me that we are heading for an early general election and the Labour Party must be ready to form a government,” he said. “There's much work to do. I will be meeting Jeremy Corbyn tomorrow morning to discuss the way forward."