Following the early morning sacking of shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn – who had made clear he had lost faith in the leader – 11 colleagues handed in their resignations.
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Britain’s opposition Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, continues to rule out stepping down, despite the resignation of 10 senior members and a widespread loss of support in the party. “But I am not going to betray the trust of those who voted for me, or the millions of supporters across the country who need Labour to represent them”, he said in a statement on Sunday.
Mr Watson is believed to covet the leadership role, presenting himself as a candidate who could bring the competing wings of the party together in advance of a general election, which could come within months.
Britain’s opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn insisted Sunday he would not give up his job in a Labour Party revolt over his handling of the European Union referendum campaign, as the aftershocks from the “Leave” vote reverberate around the country.
About 37 percent of Labour voters backed the Leave campaign, and several historic Labour strongholds (like the city of Birmingham) voted outright in favor of Leave.
Junior frontbenchers including Diana Johnson, Anna Turley, Steve Reed, Yvonne Fovargue and Toby Perkins resigned as the protest against Mr Corbyn’s leadership continued, with some ministerial aides including Stephen Kinnock – the son of former Labour leader Lord Kinnock – also quitting.
Shadow health secretary Heidi Alexander went first, posting her resignation letter on Twitter.
They also said Labour could not win the next election with him at the helm.
“Those who will be hit hardest by the economic shock associated with the vote to leave the European Union need a strong opposition, as do those communities who fear rising levels of intolerance, hatred and division”, she wrote.
“This is sad news indeed and I can not understand how Jeremy thinks it will help his worsening position with the PLP”, Labour MP Roberta Blackman-Woods tweeted following the sacking of Benn, using the party’s official acronym.
The Labour leader unveiled the appointments at 8.30am and said they would take immediate effect.
Shadow Commons leader Chris Bryant was the latest to tender his resignation this evening, tweeting: “I’ve just spoken to Jeremy Corbyn and tendered my resignation from the Shadow Cabinet”. Reports suggest that Benn has been encouraging shadow ministers to resign if Corbyn ignored a motion of no confidence.
“He is a good and decent man, but he is not a leader”, Benn said, adding, however, that he himself would not be a candidate for the leadership position in the case of a vote.
Corbyn’s allies said the party chief had no intention of resigning, but his future looked shaky amid accusations that he is ill-equipped to deal with the fallout from Britain’s seismic decision to quit the bloc. “A leader of the Labour Party, a leader of any political party, has to command both the support of the membership as well as the support of the Parliamentary Labour Party”.
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“The timing of this is appalling” she says of the public challenge to Corbyn’s leadership.
