AS Labour faces what has been described as the worst crisis to rock the party since 1935, Hexham and District Labour branch membership secretary Phil Bowyer believes support is not lost in the area.

Mr Bowyer remains confident that there will be continued support for party leader Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party in Tynedale.

He said: “I have already received emails from members expressing their complete opposition to the actions of members of the parliamentary Labour party in passing a vote of no confidence.

“I have seen continuing support for Corbyn as party leader. Despite the continued sniping at his leadership from some MPs, Labour has not performed that badly in by-elections.

“There has been no evidence locally of any diminishing support for Jeremy Corbyn. In fact, members I have spoken to have indicated that their support is stronger than ever.

“The impression I get is that a great many Labour Party members are dismayed at the parliamentary Labour Party taking these actions.

“It appears there will be another leadership election. I certainly hope that the membership will renew their strong support for Jeremy Corbyn.”

Mr Bowyer made it clear that the Hexham and District Labour Branch was yet to discuss developments and would be meeting on July 12.

Following the vote of no confidence in Mr Corbyn, a challenge to his leadership was launched this week by former Shadow Business Secretary Angela Eagle. Mr Corbyn was refusing to stand down, however, despite a motion of no confidence supported by three quarters of his party.

On Tuesday, 172 Labour MPs voted in favour of a no confidence motion while only 40 voted against.

Some have accused Mr Corbyn of being half-hearted in his campaign for remaining in the European Union.

A Northumberland Labour group spokesman said: “The Brexit vote clearly posed problems for both parties and has demonstrated a mood within the Conservative party for an ever more rightward drift.

Labour membership is surging with another 16,000 plus new members joining and clearly there’s a mood for a leadership contest.

“The process for such a contest is set out in our rule book and we’ll be following that, but we’re confident when the dust settles Northumberland Labour will be in an even stronger position to stand up for the county against a Conservative party which is seeking to derail local plans for jobs and the local economy and mislead local people.

“As an example, you’ve had local Conservatives campaigning against a staggering £100m plus investment in Ponteland and Morpeth for education and leisure.”.