Following the UK’s vote to leave the EU last Thursday, Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership has been called into question by members of his shadow cabinet.
A leadership coup began with shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn telling Corbyn he had no confidence in his leadership. Benn was then sacked, which triggered a succession of resignations from Corbyn’s shadow cabinet.
This afternoon, Jeremy Corbyn lost a no-confidence vote among Labour MPs. The party’s parliamentarians voted 172 to 40 against Mr Corbyn’s leadership in a secret ballot, with four spoilt ballots overall.
However, the Labour leader, who was elected last September in a landslide of Labour members and supporters, has said that he will not step down.
“I was democratically elected leader of our party for a new kind of politics by 60% of Labour members and supporters, and I will not betray them by resigning. Today’s vote by MPs has no constitutional legitimacy.”
No confidence motions in the leader do not feature in the Labour rulebook, which is why Corbyn says he can ignore today’s vote.