Source close to defiant Labour leader says number of shadow cabinet resignations is destabilising and new election likely

Jeremy Corbyn is preparing himself for a leadership contest after losing 20 members of his shadow cabinet in a major coup, which will be followed by a vote of no confidence in a secret ballot of MPs on Tuesday.

The chair of the parliamentary Labour party has agreed that a motion put forward by the MPs Margaret Hodge and Ann Coffey will be debated on Monday night at a meeting of MPs and then put to the vote.

Brexit live: Cameron accepts there may be a case for an early election Read more

The Labour leader remained defiant, even in the face of resignations from previously loyal members of his team on the left of the party, including the shadow business secretary, Angela Eagle, the shadow work and pensions secretary, Owen Smith, and the shadow energy secretary, Lisa Nandy.

Almost 60 former Labour parliamentary candidates have also called for their leader to resign, arguing that they need someone who looks like a “credible prime minister”.

A source close to Corbyn said the number of resignations was destabilising but ultimately irrelevant unless someone triggered a leadership election. “In many ways, the shadow cabinet is now stronger. There is no shortage of good people who want to do these jobs. The only way to try to replace Jeremy is to stand against him in a democratic contest,” he said, adding that was now “likely to happen”.

Eagle had requested a meeting with Corbyn but had not heard back, so offered her resignation over the phone on Monday morning. Her sister, Maria Eagle, the shadow culture secretary, also went.

Nandy and Smith joined John Healey, Nia Griffith and Kate Green in a crunch meeting with Corbyn.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Labour MP resignations: Ian Murray, Gloria De Piero, Kerry McCarthy, Heidi Alexander and Lord Falconer; Lucy Powell, Lilian Greenwood, Seema Malhotra, Vernon Coaker and Karl Turner; Chris Bryant, Stephen Kinnock, Diana Johnson, Toby Perkins, Anna Turley; Neil Coyle, Jess Phillips, Alex Cunningham, Wayne David and Lisa Nandy. Photograph: PA

But sources said they were left furious when the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, “barged in”. They said he answered questions meant for the leader and called on them to take on the rebels, against their hope to encourage Corbyn to build a shadow cabinet from all parts of the party. Another adviser said Corbyn and McDonnell “were simply not in the mood for compromise and did not see it as their responsibility to try to unite the party”.



In a joint statement issued after the meeting, Nandy and Smith said: “The lack of confidence in the leadership goes beyond the small group of MPs who have consistently opposed Jeremy since his election. It has become clear that he is unable to form a broad, inclusive shadow cabinet that draws on the best of our movement’s left and right traditions.”

Healey also resigned, although that had not been his original intention. He wrote in his letter that Corbyn had failed to recognise the “turmoil after the referendum vote”. Griffith also resigned from her role as shadow secretary of state for Wales.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Demonstrators hold up placards in support of Jeremy Corbyn as they protest in central London. Photograph: Xinhua/Barcroft Images

Luciana Berger also resigned from the shadow cabinet, becoming the 20th member to go since an attempted coup began this weekend. She said Corbyn had served with “great principle” and argued that they had done good work in raising the profile of mental health.



But she said the referendum result had “utterly changed the political situation”, leaving a crisis as great as the last financial crash and as “monumental” as the reconstruction of 1945. “My conviction is that we need a Labour leader who can unite our party, both in parliament and in the country,” she said.

A source close to the Labour leader said: “These resignations underline that Corbyn has lost the support of the loyal Labour left. These MPs wanted to make it work, and are by no means Blairites.”



The dramatic resignations, over two days, were a mixture of staged interventions and “organic” action, according to Labour sources.

Chris Leslie MP said: “There is a growing sense of unity now across the PLP [parliamentary Labour party] that we have a duty to our country to bring Labour back into contention, with good colleagues suppressing their own personal ambitions now in pursuit of this common goal.”

Labour crisis: the most powerful lines from shadow cabinet resignations Read more

The resignations forced Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader, to return from a weekend at the Glastonbury festival for a meeting with Corbyn, in which he told the leader that he had lost his authority within the parliamentary party.

Watson warned that if there was a leadership election and Corbyn stood again then members would be voting with that knowledge, but he fell short of demanding his resignation.

More than 500 young Labour members, youth councillors and activists have signed a letter calling on Corbyn to step down, organised by the former Corbynite activist Siddo Dwyer, 19.

“I put my faith in Jeremy because I believed he could cut through in a way other politicians couldn’t and reach young people and those who no longer vote,” Dwyer said.

“But it’s clear to me now he can’t do what he promised and that he is simply incapable of leading the Labour party to victory at an election that may only be months away.”

In a letter to the Labour leader, members said it was the younger generation that would suffer the most from a rightwing Conservative government.



“Moreover, we are extremely disappointed that Jeremy Corbyn did not provide adequate leadership during the referendum ... his nonchalance during the referendum was a betrayal of the very young people who passionately supported him,” it read.

Corbyn’s supporters were also mobilising, with Momentum preparing phone banks to contact up to 100,000 supporters and planning a protest outside parliament during Monday night’s vote. Len McCluskey, the leader of the Unite union, has issued a threat to rebel MPs that they could face mandatory deselection.

It later emerged that Corbyn plans to address the rally at the gates of parliament on Monday evening after facing down his critics within the parliamentary Labour party.

The address will offer a stark reminder to MPs that Corbyn’s support remains outside the parliamentary party, which has always been hostile towards him.

Corbyn’s team reiterated his statement of Sunday night: “Those who want to change Labour’s leadership will have to stand in a democratic election, in which I will be a candidate.”

The leader said he would not “betray the trust” of the Labour members who voted for him. He announced the following new members of his shadow cabinet team:

Shadow foreign secretary – Emily Thornberry.



Shadow health secretary – Diane Abbott.



Shadow education secretary – Pat Glass.



Shadow transport secretary – Andy McDonald.



Shadow defence secretary – Clive Lewis.



Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury – Rebecca Long-Bailey.



Shadow international development secretary – Kate Osamor.



Shadow environment food and rural affairs secretary – Rachel Maskell.



Shadow voter engagement and youth affairs – Cat Smith.



Shadow Northern Ireland secretary – Dave Anderson.

But the leader will face a difficult meeting on Monday evening, with rebels also pointing out that the normal activity of parliament had become impossible for Labour. “They can replace the shadow cabinet but can they field a frontbench?” asked one organiser.

Among those who resigned was Toby Perkins, the shadow armed forces minister, whose absence will be notable during defence questions on Monday – underlining the fact that the Labour leader will find it difficult to operate without a team around him.

Many MPs are furious about what the perceive as having been a lacklustre performance from Corbyn during the EU referendum, with Phil Wilson, who chaired the remain campaign for the party’s parliamentary group, accusing his leader of “sabotage”.

Chris Bryant, the former shadow leader of the House of Commons, said he was unsure whether Corbyn had even voted to remain in the EU himself. Bryant said he had asked the leader directly if he had voted to leave, but “he didn’t answer”.

Bryant added: “The truth is Jeremy’s management of the campaign in the referendum left many voters on polling day not even knowing which way he was going to vote himself. I suspect that Jeremy may have voted to leave.”