Party leader is expected to be asked to apologise for last week’s historic loss

Jeremy Corbyn is likely to face calls to apologise for last week’s disastrous election results when he attends what is likely to be an angry parliamentary Labour party (PLP) meeting on Tuesday evening.

Many Corbyn-sceptic MPs are incensed that the leader has not said sorry for the loss of 60 MPs across the north, Midlands, Scotland and Wales, although he has said he takes “full responsibility” and was “very sad”.

There is particular anger among losing candidates that they have had no direct communication – neither an apology nor a note of thanks – from the leadership after losing their seats.

Ahead of the meeting, several expressed frustration at the tone Corbyn has taken since Thursday’s result, which has included defending the party’s platform and stating that “our time will come”.

Pat McFadden, a former Labour minister whose majority in Wolverhampton South East fell from 8,500 two years ago to 1,235, said: “Thursday night was a disastrous result of historic proportions and the only thing that would make it worse is to refuse to learn from it.

“It’s rare for a Labour leader to have such unchallenged command over a campaign. Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters had complete command of the NEC and party structures, the manifesto, the election strategy and even the timing given he voted for an election at this time despite deep misgivings among many MPs.

“No one got in the way. No one stopped them. This was the platform they had been dreaming of fighting an election on for decades. And it led to the worst Labour result since 1935.”

Stephen Kinnock, the Aberavon MP, blamed “weak and incompetent leadership” for the result, as well as the decision to back a second referendum and a “manifesto that turned into a Christmas wish list”.

One MP suggested Tuesday’s PLP would be “awful” for Corbyn and another said the party leader would be pressed for an acknowledgement that he should not have agreed to an election when it was clear it would be dominated by the Brexit issue.

A third said: “I think he needs to apologise. He was so clearly the biggest issue. MPs have lost their seats, staff have lost their jobs in the run-up to Christmas and we’ve let down the British people by giving them five years of a Boris Johnson majority government. I’m sure it wasn’t what he intended but that’s where we are and I do think an apology would be appropriate.

However, Corbyn’s supporters in the party are likely to rally to his defence, blaming Brexit for the result and highlighting his greater success with a similar manifesto but no second referendum policy in 2017.

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There was also a move among some Corbyn allies to blame the media. Andy McDonald, the shadow transport secretary, claimed on Monday that the BBC was partly responsibility for Labour’s losses and that it was insufficiently impartial.

A Labour spokesman confirmed that Corbyn would attend the meeting of his parliamentary party, which has seen the number of its MPs shrink to 202, down from 261 two years ago.

Corbyn has said he will step down by the end of March, triggering a leadership contest among MPs.

But he will still have to make appearances in parliament opposite Boris Johnson at the despatch box for prime minister’s questions and make Labour’s case during debates on key pieces of legislation for the next three months.

The Labour leader will also have to make a decision on how to whip the party for Johnson’s EU withdrawal bill and on the Queen’s speech, which are both due to come to the House of Commons this week.