Jeremy Corbyn has stepped up Labour’s preparations for the fall of Theresa May by appointing Jon Trickett to lead the shadow cabinet’s work on preparation for government.

The Labour leader said Trickett, who was one of his early backers in the 2015 leadership election, would use the project to show how the party is “ready to serve our country in the event of an early election”.

It is the latest sign that Corbyn is confident he could face another national vote before 2022, the scheduled end of the five-year parliament. The Labour leader has already kicked off parliamentary selections for 75 key marginal seats and last month told party conference that “we stand ready to take over whenever this government fails”.

Yesterday Lord Kerslake, the former head of the home civil service, told the Telegraph he was helping to prepare Corbyn for government and today the Labour leader confirmed that Trickett would work with shadow cabinet colleagues to develop the party’s programme for office.