Corbyn urged to quit as Labour fear destruction
JEREMY Corbyn is braced for furious calls for his resignation today following an expected hammering for Labour at the polls.
Senior Labour figures are understood to be ready to clamour for the end of his floundering hard- Left party leadership this week.
Labour sources last night admitted the party’s private polling was forecasting the loss of around 100 council seats.
Party insiders said the results expected today will almost certainly confirm that Labour cannot win the next general election in 2020 under Mr Corbyn’s leadership.
One moderate MP said: “We have got to get rid of him. He cannot be allowed to continue. The party will be destroyed.”
Senior figures are poised to speak out today ahead of a determined coup attempt after the EU referendum next month.
MPs have been in despair that the party has been engulfed in a poisonous row over anti- Semitism in the run- up to the elections.
But they are aware that any bid to oust the leader in the next five weeks could be a distraction from their EU referendum campaign.
Despite the gloom, Mr Corbyn claimed to be feeling “very happy” and gave a thumbs- up as he went to vote at a polling station in Islington.
More than 2,700 seats on English councils were up for grabs yesterday.
Mr Corbyn’s Labour enemies have claimed that the party needed to make around 200 gains to be on track to win the next election.
Some pollsters have even been forecasting around 170 losses.
Some fear the party will lose millions of votes to Ukip, with the anti- Brussels party tipped to make gains across the country and particularly in the Welsh Assembly.
Voters were also choosing new mayors in London, Bristol, Liverpool and Salford.
New MPs for the constituencies of Ogmore in Bridgend County, and Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough are also set to be elected.
Voters in 40 police force areas in England and Wales, excluding London and Greater Manchester, were choosing new police and crime commissioners.
Counting will take place throughout today. Some English council results will not be announced until tomorrow.
Nicola Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party was tipped to retain their dominance of the Scottish Parliament.
The final results for the Northern Ireland Assembly election are not expected until Sunday.
In London, David Cameron and his wife Samantha appeared confused as they went to cast their votes just before 8.30am, initially making their way to the wrong polling station entrance.
They had to quickly reroute upon realising the door did not lead to the polling station.
Mrs Cameron, dressed in a navy blue blouse tucked into navy trousers, seemed to notice the blunder sooner than her husband, who stopped for a moment before following her lead.
The Prime Minister and his wife spent two minutes inside Central Hall Westminster, a short walk from Downing Street, before walking off hand- in- hand.