Over 240 Labour councillors have signed an open letter giving their continued backing to Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership and slammed the moves against him as “indulgent” and “self-defeating”.

This is the latest sign of a grassroots backlash against MPs’ attempts to get rid of Corbyn as leader, following a large rally outside Parliament on Monday night, and a NewsNight survey of 50 Constituency Labour Party (CLP) chairs that found 90 per cent were still behind him.

The 246 councillors say they are “dismayed” with the MPs’ vote on the leadership, and call on the party to unite behind Corbyn and “turn[…] fire on the real enemy, the Tory Party”.

You can read the full letter below:

We are a group of Labour Party councillors who are dismayed by the attempt by some within the Parliamentary Labour Party to oust our democratically elected leader, Jeremy Corbyn. Many of us were elected in May, where in spite of predictions of an electoral meltdown, we won our seats. Voters who had previously felt abandoned by the Labour Party returned to vote for us, returned as members, and returned as campaigners.

It would be utterly self-defeating for the people we represent if now, less than a year after Jeremy was elected on the single biggest mandate of any previous leader, he was to be forced from office. It is our view that the behaviour of some members of the Parliamentary Labour Party is totally self-indulgent and at odds with what the communities we represent need. We will risk losing all those new members and enthusiastic campaigners who joined us because Jeremy offered a vision of hope for the future.

Our enemy is not Jeremy Corbyn – it is the Tory party and their plans to use the EU referendum as a fig leaf to inflict further cuts to the councils we represent.

We hope that those MPs who have embarked on this indulgent course of action will reflect on their behaviour and turn their fire on the real enemy, the Tory Party.

Signed by: